U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) this week joined a bicameral GOP group of lawmakers in calling for action by the U.S. House of Representatives on the Trillion Trees Act.
“This bill will ensure we remain good stewards of the environment and will benefit our economy, and I urge the House to act quickly on it,” said Rep. Joyce during a press conference also attended by bill supporters including U.S. Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Steve Stivers (R-OH), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Pete Stauber (R-MN), Greg Walden (R-OR), and U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN).
Rep. Joyce on Feb. 12 signed on as an original cosponsor of H.R. 5859 with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) to establish forest management, reforestation and utilization practices that would lead to the sequestration of greenhouse gases, according to the text of the bill, which now has 31 other Republican cosponsors.
“I was proud to join my friend and colleague Rep. Bruce Westerman in introducing the Trillion Trees Act, which will help our nation reverse the catastrophic effects of deforestation, prevent horrific wildfires, sustain critical resources and ecosystems, and reduce the amount of carbon in our atmosphere,” Rep. Joyce said.
Rep. Westerman called trees “the ultimate carbon sequestration device,” adding that H.R. 5859 sets “an ambitious goal of planting one trillion new trees by 2050,” and would reinvest resources into managing forests and using wood products.
Planting one trillion more trees across the world could sequester 205 gigatons of carbon, according to a July 2019 report from the American Academy for the Advancement of Science.
Currently, H.R. 5859 remains under consideration in four House committees.