The Trump administration's DEI policy change resulted in the cancellation of a $75 million nationwide tree-planting program to enhance urban environments by reducing heat.
Neighborhoods across the United States suffer from a lack of tree canopy, and the U.S. government was trying to help. Places damaged by fire and needing to replant, or cement wonderlands paved into our cities, trees can help. The Trump administration has stopped the program because of DEI.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at ending federal programs and grants related to diversity, equity and inclusion, which it called discriminatory and wasteful.
The order required agencies to provide a list of all DEI programs, including programs related to environmental justice. And it ordered agencies to terminate "'equity' actions, initiatives, or programs" and "'equity-related' grants or contracts."
The $75 million tree-planting program was part of the Biden administration's Justice40 initiative, which aimed to direct more resources to "disadvantaged communities." The administration defined those as areas that were generally lower-income and faced more pollution, based on factors such as health, housing, transportation and workforce development.
LAist
Previously:
• Target scrapped DEI to please Trump. It's not helping business.
• Pentagon scrubs Black Civil War hero because DEI
