{"id":2669,"date":"2023-01-16T13:02:13","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T18:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/?p=2669"},"modified":"2023-01-16T13:02:17","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T18:02:17","slug":"if-philadelphia-wants-cleaner-cooler-air-the-answer-is-simple-plant-more-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/if-philadelphia-wants-cleaner-cooler-air-the-answer-is-simple-plant-more-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"If Philadelphia Wants Cleaner, Cooler Air, the Answer is Simple\u2014Plant More Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Samantha Weber, JD Anticipated May 2024, Law and Public Policy Scholar<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philadelphia has a long and sordid history with pollution of all kinds. As a young, bustling city, its streets were so full of garbage that it prompted Benjamin Franklin<\/a> to add a trash collection system to his prolific list of inventions. Of course, the colonial trash system simply dumped all of the city\u2019s garbage directly into the Delaware River; but at least he tried. Since then, Philadelphia has been plagued by all sorts of urban environmental issues, leaving residents vulnerable to high rates of respiratory illnesses, ozone and particulate matter pollution<\/a>, and exacerbated summer temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is one simple solution that can help address all of these problems. It almost seems too easy, but the answer is trees. We need to plant more of them, especially in neighborhoods that need them most. Trees can<\/a> cool down hot city summers with their shade and filter out harmful particulate matter from the air with their leaves. They absorb carbon dioxide, act as carbon sinks, and release clean oxygen back into the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City leaders have pledged to cover 30% of the city in trees by 2030<\/a>, but we\u2019re far from that goal. With just a 20% tree canopy, Philadelphia has the least trees of any northeastern city in the United States, and we lost about 1,000 football fields worth of trees<\/a> between the years of 2008 and 2018. One of the most heavily forested cities in the country, Washington, D.C., is nearly 40% shaded by trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a walk around our \u201ccity of neighborhoods,\u201d and it\u2019s easy to see that the neighborhoods are not all created equal. There are plenty of ways that inequality is expressed, but the tree cover disparity<\/a> is obvious. Areas of northwest Philadelphia have 80% tree canopy, meaning that 80% of the area is shaded by trees. On the other hand, Chinatown and parts of South Philly have just 3% coverage. The areas of the City with the least tree coverage are largely inhabited by people of color and low-income communities, which is a correlation reflected in just about every American city.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This tree disparity puts Philadelphia\u2019s most vulnerable residents at a higher risk for heat-related and respiratory illnesses. They are already\u00a0more likely to struggle with asthma and have fewer resources to keep their homes cool in the summer. A deeply inadequate tree cover only compounds these environmental risks. The urban heat island effect, caused by tall buildings and pavement blocking breezes and trapping warmth, makes cities hotter than rural areas, but it can be devastating in City neighborhoods without adequate tree cover. Some Philly neighborhoods without trees hit temperatures up to 22 degrees hotter <\/a>than other areas of the City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philadelphia has taken some important steps to address this issue. The City funded two reports<\/a>, released in 2011 and 2019, that gathered crucial data about our urban forest. Since 2012, a City initiative called TreePhilly<\/a> has helped residents get free trees planted outside their homes. Unfortunately, a lack of adequate funding severely limits TreePhilly\u2019s impact <\/a>to planting fewer than 1,000 trees each year, but at least it\u2019s making some progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2019, the City gathered more than 100 people from 50 different organizations to discuss challenges and goals for the City\u2019s urban forest planning at the Philly Tree Summit<\/a>. The summit heavily informed the Philly Tree Plan<\/a>, a 10-year strategic plan for growing and maintaining the City\u2019s tree canopy. The plan includes a wide variety of recommendations, from highlighting priority planting areas, creating new programs, and reducing the burden of tree maintenance on residents, to advocating for more funding and changing zoning codes to prioritize tree planting. Officials have yet to release a final draft of the plan, but it promises to be an excellent blueprint for growing and maintaining Philly\u2019s tree canopy. Finally, this past summer, City Council passed the Philly Tree Fund Bill<\/a>, which seeks to address the City\u2019s declining tree coverage and implements some recommendations from the Philly Tree Plan draft. Most notably, the bill imposes new requirements and fees<\/a> on developers who fail to replace trees that are cut down to make way for new construction projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of these efforts are a good start, but the City must do more to reach its stated goal of 30% tree canopy by 2030. First and foremost, City officials need to adopt more of the Philly Tree Plan once it\u2019s finalized. It would be a mistake to allow the plan to become an unfunded mandate. More importantly, they must fund its recommendations adequately. One of the most crucial recommendations the Plan makes is creating and fully funding an Office of the City Forester to centralize all tree-related programs, regulations, outreach, and planning. That office could run new programs, including a more equitable street tree initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now, street trees are only planted along sidewalks in residential areas with homeowner permission<\/a>, and residents are expected to pay any repair costs that might arise if, for example, a growing tree\u2019s root system buckles the concrete. Sidewalks are technically city property, but property owners are responsible for maintaining them. Instead, trees should simply be planted at the City Foresters\u2019 discretion in neighborhoods where they are most needed. Once trees are planted, the City should pay to maintain them and any damage they may do to sidewalks, too. The Philly Tree Plan recommends a cost-sharing plan between the City and property owners, but the City should go one step further and fully cover tree maintenance. This would fully remove any financial burdens trees could place on low-income Philadelphians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to a massive influx of federal funding<\/a> from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the American Rescue Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, Philadelphia leaders have the ability to act more aggressively to grow and protect the City\u2019s tree canopy. They also have the data they need to do so equitably and effectively. Now, they just need to follow through. It is time to take more forceful action on air quality and environmental issues in this City, and the tree canopy is an excellent place to start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Samantha Weber, JD Anticipated May 2024, Law and Public Policy Scholar Philadelphia has a long and sordid history with pollution of all kinds. As a young, bustling city, its streets were so full of garbage that it prompted Benjamin Franklin to add a trash collection system to his prolific list of inventions. Of course, the colonial trash system simply dumped all of the city\u2019s garbage directly into the Delaware River; but at least he tried. Since then, Philadelphia has been … <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"coauthors":[67],"class_list":["post-2669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","infinite-scroll-item","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"yoast_head":"\r\nIf Philadelphia Wants Cleaner, Cooler Air, the Answer is Simple\u2014Plant More Trees - Law & Public Policy Program<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/if-philadelphia-wants-cleaner-cooler-air-the-answer-is-simple-plant-more-trees\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"If Philadelphia Wants Cleaner, Cooler Air, the Answer is Simple\u2014Plant More Trees - Law & Public Policy Program\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Samantha Weber, JD Anticipated May 2024, Law and Public Policy Scholar Philadelphia has a long and sordid history with pollution of all kinds. 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