ABA Lawyers to Plant 1 Million Trees by 2014

April 23, 2009

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The American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy and Resources has launched a nationwide public service project to plant one million trees by 2014.

The One Million Trees Project, spearheaded by the section’s Environmental Transactions and Brownfields Committee, calls on America’s lawyers to plant one million trees across the United States in the next five years to raise awareness of their value.

Lawyers can contribute to the project by planting trees in their communities or by using the project’s dedicated Web site to purchase trees that will be planted by one of several project partners, including the Alliance for Community Trees, The Arbor Day Foundation, Tree Link/Tree Bank, American Forest, Tree People and the Institute for Environmental Solutions.

Lawyers also can fund the effort of these partner organizations to reforest public lands and rural spaces. They can earmark their contributions to ACT, Tree People, or TreeLink/Tree Bank for urban landscape renewal.

Other organizations looking to plant one million or more trees to help reforest America include Plow & Hearth, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and Celestial Seasonings.

Realizing that environmental issues are becoming increasingly complex particularly with the emergence of carbon regulation policies, global environmental directives and laws, and renewable energy projects, law firms are expanding their disciplines to cover these issues. Most recently, consulting firm Deloitte detailed several business risks, including financial and reporting implications, associated with the emerging North American carbon markets.

As an example, the national law firm of Quarles & Brady recently launched its Clean Energy, Climate Change & Sustainability industry group to help clients with complex business and legal issues linked to the environment.

This multidisciplinary group includes more than 50 attorneys from the firm’s Environmental, Real Estate, Corporate, Utility, Finance, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Tax, and Immigration practices.

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