ExxonKnews: Big Oil’s evergreen false solution is now Republicans’ climate plan

Major fossil fuel companies have been selling tree planting as an alternative to getting off oil and gas since the 1980s.

When asked whether they have a plan to do something about the carbon pollution setting off deadly wildfires, heatwaves, and floods across America this summer, Republicans have decided on a common refrain: forget phasing out fossil fuels, let’s just plant a trillion trees.

Planting and preserving our forests is a necessary endeavor on its own — but becomes a dangerous diversion when used as an excuse to continue burning oil and gas. Indeed, scientists say that planting trees is “not a serious solution to the climate crisis” and “not a replacement for reducing emissions as quickly as possible.” The suggestion is especially preposterous as conservatives simultaneously plan to unravel nearly every existing climate and clean energy provision while increasing the production of fossil fuels, the primary driver of climate change.

Republican lawmakers are drawing from a playbook used by polluters for decades. Since first learning about climate change, Big Oil has been working to shift the public’s attention towards trees and away from reducing our dependence on oil and gas.

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