U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) introduced the Trillion Trees Act, legislation that would plant 1 trillion trees globally by 2050 and incentivize the use of wood products as carbon sequestration devices. U.S. Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Rob Wittman (R-Va.), Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), Andy Barr (R-Ky.), Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and David Joyce (R-Ohio) all joined the bill as original cosponsors.
“Trees are the ultimate carbon sequestration device,” Westerman says. “Every day, countless billions of plant cells are pulling carbon from the atmosphere and permanently storing it in wood. That’s why this legislation is so important. We’re taking proven science and turning it into practical solutions. Not only are we setting an ambitious goal of planting 1 trillion new trees by 2050, but we’re also reinvesting resources into managing forests and using wood products.”
“I am proud to stand with our loggers in introducing this legislation, as the forest and paper industry is a cornerstone of northern Minnesota’s economy,” Stauber adds. “The legislation will increase our logging output, rightfully recognize the carbon neutrality of biomass, and provide a commonsense solution to carbon in the atmosphere without needlessly driving up the cost of energy.”
The Trillion Trees Act is based on a July 2019 Swiss report featured by the American Academy for the Advancement of Science that concluded planting 1 trillion trees across the world could sequester 205 gigatonnes of carbon. That’s roughly the equivalent of two-thirds of all manmade carbon since the Industrial Revolution.
The bill has three parts:
- Plant more trees in urban areas and on marginal agriculture land domestically while offering technical support and assistance for other countries to maximize forest growth internationally and reverse deforestation.
- Grow more wood in existing forests and make them more resilient to insects, diseases and catastrophic wildfires.
- Store more carbon by incentivizing innovative building practices with a sustainable building tax credit.