Today, we’re pretty chuffed to announce the crowdsourced forest we launched just over a year ago has reached 1,000,000 trees. We (me and Dan from Offcut and our mate, Jeff Willis) launched Trump Forest in April last year to offset President Trump’s climate ignorance. The idea was simple: people anywhere in the world could buy trees to counter Trump’s anti-climate agenda. Today, just 11 months after launching, people from more than 60 countries have contributed 1,000,029 trees.
"People from more than 60 countries have contributed 1,000,029 trees."
Here’s a thank you message we put together to thank everyone who’s contributed. We are absolutely pumped at the response Trump Forest has had, but we’re sad to say Trump’s record on climate change is as bad as ever. Since the start of the new year, he’s made moves to dismantle Obama-era restrictions placed on offshore oil drilling and recently stated that the polar ice caps are at record highs, contrary to all scientific evidence.
The world’s most powerful man appears to be completely illiterate when it comes to basic science. My six year old niece has a better understanding of it than he does... It’d be funny if it wasn’t so serious. Trump, the supposed leader of the free world, is actively misleading the public about the greatest collective crisis that we face today.
"I guess it comes down to whether you prefer to trust people who sent humans to the moon or a man who brags about grabbing women by their pussy."
Leading scientific organisations like NASA are telling us that climate change is happening right now and we've already delayed action too long. They say we should've acted already, but we haven't, so we must act now. But Trump doesn't believe them. I guess it comes down to whether you prefer to trust people who sent humans to the moon or a man who brags about grabbing women by their pussy.
Last year, President Trump withdrew the United States from 2015’s Paris Agreement on climate change, leaving the U.S., Syria, and Nicaragua as the only three countries in the world not committed to the landmark international deal. Syria and Nicaragua have since signed on, leaving America by itself. By doing this, the US has pushed itself further away from the international community’s collective efforts in finally taking meaningful action on the greatest health threat humanity faces. His attitude is dangerous and the time we are wasting today will come at a cost tomorrow. By delaying action, we are letting future generations foot the bill for our recklessness.
"The US has pushed itself further away from the international community’s collective efforts."
We’re stoked to hit 1,000,000 trees but there’s still a very long way to go if we truly want to offset Trump’s climate ignorance. To offset the extra carbon Trump’s administration will allow in the atmosphere, we need something in the order of 10,000,000,000 trees. It’s a phenomenal amount because he’s a phenomenally large problem when it comes to climate change.
Having said that, no one expected us to reach 1,000,000 trees so we’re confident we can get to 10,000,000,000 if people around the world continue to show they care enough about healthy life on earth. Beyond planting trees, we all have a role to play in ensuring that facts are being communicated correctly. We need to call out misinformation from Trump, and indeed anyone else, when we hear it. We are in a dire situation and people alive now present the only chance to steer us clear of unmanageable, and unimaginable, consequences.
