Energy

Biden Will Have To Plant Hundreds Of Trees To Offset The CO2 From His Delaware Trip

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President Joe Biden would have to plant and grow nearly 350 mature trees to offset the 16,641 lbs of carbon dioxide emitted by his Tuesday-evening round trip from Washington, D.C., to Delaware.

Biden took two 27-minute flights on Air Force One to vote in the Delaware Democratic primary which produced roughly 16,641 lbs of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation analysis. A mature tree will absorb 48 lbs of CO2 in one year, so Biden would have to plant 347 trees to sequester the emissions produced by his trip to Delaware.

A tree can take roughly 30 years to fully grow, meaning that Biden would be over 100 years old by the time the trees had absorbed all the emissions he produced aboard Air Force One. An individual would have to drive 18,736 miles in a gas-powered car to equal the amount of greenhouse gas emitted by Biden’s flights, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s emission calculator.

Biden denoted carbon emissions and climate change as an “existential threat” to humanity in a July speech. Biden is pushing an aggressive climate plan to slash carbon emissions to reach net-zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050, according to a White House press release.

Delaware’s Democratic primary had no high-profile races on the ballot and allowed early voting on Sept. 10 when Biden was in the state. Biden also could have submitted an absentee ballot instead of voting in person.

The White House did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.