Biden to Spend $1 Billion in Taxpayer Funds to Advance ‘Equitable Access to Trees’

The administration claims that the investment will help achieve ‘environmental justice’ and tackle climate change

The Biden administration is spending up to $1 billion in taxpayer funds to promote the “equitable access to trees,” which it claims will “advance environmental justice” and counter climate change.

The Agriculture Department of President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced the initiative, referred to as a “historic investment in our nation’s urban tree canopy.” The money will be available to non-profits, universities, and states that aim to increase tree coverage in urban areas and enhance equitable access to nature, as well as “advance environmental justice by mitigating the impact of climate change on communities who lack tree cover.”

California, for instance, will receive $43 million, the largest allocation in the program’s history.

President Biden has already allocated hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to address what he refers to as the “climate crisis” with “the urgency that science demands.” Nevertheless, in several instances, this expenditure has gone beyond more traditional investments in alternative energy infrastructure and technology. Following Biden’s executive order in January 2021, calling for all government agencies to “combat the climate crisis with bold, progressive action,” federal entities that appear to have little to do with the issue, like the Department of Veterans Affairs, released plans aimed at increasing “climate adaptation and resilience.”

However, not all of Biden’s climate spending will stay within the United States. The U.S. Agency for International Development, run by Democrats, last year revealed its 2022-2030 climate change strategy, which includes a $150 billion “whole-of-agency approach” to construct an “equitable world with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.” This effort includes a pledge to inspire and support young climate activists in developing countries and help those activists deal with a “wide range of climate-related mental health conditions,” including “eco-anxiety.” Meanwhile, in March, the agency announced a grant notice seeking proposals for a “Disability-Inclusive Climate Action” project in Tajikistan, which aims to ensure disabled people in the Central Asian nation take part “in the development of climate change response and mitigation policies.”

Biden’s Agriculture Department states that its “equitable tree access investments go beyond planting trees in tree wells” and will “support lasting community relationships and engagements that strengthen communities.” The expenditure is part of the administration’s Justice40 Initiative, which seeks to ensure that “40 percent of the overall benefits of specific federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overloaded with pollution.”

The department’s announcement on Wednesday includes supportive statements from New Jersey Democratic senator Cory Booker, who is known for forcing his girlfriend to endorse his failed presidential campaign, as well as Senior Adviser to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation John Podesta, who has praised China’s efforts to combat climate change and encouraged the communist regime to “build American infrastructure.”

“This historic investment will help us tackle the most pernicious impacts of climate change, move us closer to remedying environmental justice in our communities, and pay dividends for generations to come,” Booker said.