This week on “The Climate Divide,” what tree equity could mean for the District
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If you want to see how tree cover varies throughout the District, travel from the lush upper northwest, the whitest and wealthiest area of the city, to the eastern and southern parts of the city, where the trees that line the streets are fewer and farther between.
For the season finale of “The Climate Divide,” we speak with Alana Tucker from the nonprofit organization American Forests, which is rolling out new features this fall that work with its Tree Equity Score website to map tree cover variance in the District and other cities around the country.
Tucker is the senior director of the organization’s Tree Equity Alliance, which American Forests established to influence policies to spur planting in neighborhoods nationwide with less tree cover. The coalition plans to use findings from the Tree Equity Score tool to determine those canopy-lacking areas.
Breaking cities into census block groups, the tool combines tree cover, surface temperature, race and socioeconomic data to produce a score from zero to 100. A lower score means there’s more priority for tree planting.
“When you layer that information on top of each other,” says Tucker, “you find that low-income communities and communities of color have less trees than their wealthier counterparts.”
Tree Equity Score is one of many tools researchers and organizations are producing to understand how past racist policies have left low-income neighborhoods and communities of color more exposed to environmental hazards, such as extreme heat or chronic flooding.
The tool gave D.C. a total score of 88, but it also says 80 of the 571 census groups in the District have significant tree planting needs, with scores below 80.
In today’s episode, Tucker speaks with Hola Cultura’s executive director Christine MacDonald to discuss Tree Equity Score and how American Forests hopes cities will use the tool. They also discuss zoning code changes that could make urban planners and builders consider urban forests more holistically, and how tree preservation doesn’t have to come at the cost of affordable housing.
Founded in 1875, American Forests works on improving forest and tree health nationwide through various programs and partnerships. In our region, the nonprofit has collaborated with the D.C. conservation organization Casey Trees and the District Department of Transportation.
“We, American Forests, are based in D.C. It’s our home turf, and we want to be part of that work,” says Tucker.
About “The Climate Divide”
In this fourth season of “The Climate Divide,” we’ll explore what crucial decisions need to be made today by our government to better prepare the District for extreme heat and floods, the DMV’s two biggest climate threats. Despite the city’s ambitious climate goals, there’s no guarantee that D.C. will hit its targets to eliminate fossil fuels from buildings and vehicles and expand the city’s shade-giving tree canopy.
“The Climate Divide” is hosted, produced and edited by Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe. Claudia Peralta Torres is the podcast’s sound engineer. Jaiden Hubbard, Jewel Sanchez and Sbeyde Herrera from the Society & Culture team in Hola Cultura’s Storytelling Program for Experiential Learning provided additional editing support. Christine MacDonald is the series editor and executive director of Hola Cultura. “The Climate Divide” is supported by Spotlight DC and the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
– Story by Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe
– Copy edited by Michelle Benitez
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