Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker (R) is doubling down on his stance against the Democrats’ climate, health care, and taxes bill recently signed into law by President Joe Biden.
Over the weekend, Walker argued that too much money was "going to trees" and called for more spending on law enforcement.
“They continue to try to fool you like they are helping you out. But they’re not. They’re not helping you out because a lot of money, it’s going to trees,” Walker said according to a clip obtained by The Hill.
“Don’t we have enough trees around here?” he added, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The legislation opposed by Walker directs nearly $370 billion to climate and energy programs.
Specifically, $1.5 billion will be put toward the Urban and Community Forestry Assistance program, which plants trees in urban areas in an effort to combat extreme heat caused by climate change.
Walker took his criticism of the climate bill to Twitter on Monday (August 22).
“Yes, you heard me right…Joe Biden and @ReverendWarnock are spending $1.5 billion on ‘urban forestry’ and raising taxes on those making under $200k to pay for it. Yes, I have a problem with that,” he tweeted.
Despite Walker's remarks, the White House has said that the Inflation Reduction Act won't raise taxes for Americans earning less than $400,000.
Experts also assert that planting trees helps battle climate change and improve health.
“If you were to plant millions of trees, which is what many countries want to do … we’d be removing a significant amount of carbon,” said Paul Falkowski, a science professor at Rutgers University.
“Urban tree planting is very, very productive in the sense that it increases the shade, it increases the flux of moisture in the local environment, which decreases the temperature,” Falkowski added.
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