Trees are for everyone.
In communities across the country, a lack of trees is a dire condition that leaves people vulnerable to deadly "heat islands", high electricity bills, catastrophic flooding, dirty air and other threats. In fact, low tree canopy is a common hallmark of larger inequalities.
According to our partners at American Forests, a map of tree cover in the U.S. is too often a map of income and race. Neighborhoods with no or low tree cover often have lower home values, lower income levels, and higher populations of people of color.
The bipartisan TREES (Trees for Residential Energy and Economic Savings) Act was created to bolster tree canopy in underserved neighborhoods in order to lower residential energy costs and help mitigate the effects of climate change, like devastating heat islands or flooding. The bill would create a program at the Department of Energy to plant a minimum of 300,000 trees annually in neighborhoods where they are needed most.
In a time of rising temperatures, this bill is as important as ever. Join us in the collective efforts to get it passed.