I claim no expertise in environmental matters, except that I believe the climate scientists regarding the causes of what I have seen across my lifetime so far. I know there is much that could be done and that a massive mobilization will be required to do it.
The Green New Deal is certainly a good, aspirational start to envisioning a livable future. The original New Deal had a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) that provided employment, helping to lift the country out of the Depression and built a lot of the infrastructure in our state and national parks and forests. A 21st century version might be doable — and sooner rather than later. The original CCC was a state project of then New York Governor Franklin Roosevelt. No reason why it could not start in any city, county or state or civic organization with the gumption to try it right now.
Even better, it turns out there is something we can do while we wait for whatever mass mobilization to save the planet our leaders finally put forward: Plant trees. Now. That’s the conclusion of a group of Swiss scientists who wanted to figure out what would be be most significant interventions we can make to reduce carbon in the atmosphere while we reduce or eliminate carbon emissions. The headline in The Guardian report on their findings reads:
"Tree planting 'has mind-blowing potential' to tackle climate crisis: Research shows a trillion trees could be planted to capture huge amount of carbon dioxide"
Here are a few excerpts:
"Planting billions of trees across the world is by far the biggest and cheapest way to tackle the climate crisis, according to scientists, who have made the first calculation of how many more trees could be planted without encroaching on crop land or urban areas."
“This new quantitative evaluation shows [forest] restoration isn’t just one of our climate change solutions, it is overwhelmingly the top one,” said Prof Tom Crowther at the Swiss university ETH Zürich, who led the research. “What blows my mind is the scale. I thought restoration would be in the top 10, but it is overwhelmingly more powerful than all of the other climate change solutions proposed.”
"As trees grow, they absorb and store the carbon dioxide emissions that are driving global heating.... a worldwide planting programme could remove two-thirds of all the emissions that have been pumped into the atmosphere by human activities
“It is available now, it is the cheapest one possible and every one of us can get involved.” Individuals could make a tangible impact by growing trees themselves, donating to forest restoration organisations and avoiding irresponsible companies, he added."
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