Tag

Environmental Equity

All articles tagged with #environmental equity

environment2 years ago•3 min saved

Seattle City Council approves sweeping tree protection ordinance.

The Seattle City Council has passed a new tree ordinance that will overhaul the existing code protecting trees for the first time since 2001. The new ordinance regulates 70,400 trees, creates a static tree protection zone, and allows property owners to pay into a fund that plants trees in under-canopied parts of town. However, community advocates and volunteers who serve on the city commission monitoring urban forestry policy worry that the legislation was rushed through the voting process and doesn't fully account for the city's Green New Deal and other environmental equity goals.

via Crosscut|

#environment #environmental-equity #housing

environment3 years ago•6 min saved

U.S. cities make historic investment in urban trees.

President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act has set aside $1.5 billion for the federal Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program to fund tree-planting projects over the next decade, with a focus on underserved communities. Urban forestry advocates see this moment as an opportunity to transform underserved neighborhoods that have grappled with dirtier air, dangerously high temperatures, and other challenges because they don’t have a leafy canopy overhead. Trees help suck up heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reduce erosion and flooding. They're also credited with helping to save lives, considering heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S.

via ABC News|

#biden-administration #climate-change #community-development