The notice of the hearing landed in my inbox from the
High Street Hill Association, one of many neighborhood organizations on the front lines of local government here in the Boston metro area. The local utility company, NStar, wanted to cut down a dozen trees along the streets of Brookline, Massachusetts. The condemned trees, mostly Norway maples and red oaks, were listed with the Latin names for each species: Acer platanoides, Tilia cordata, Quercus rubra, and Catalpa bignonioides. But I knew each one was likely a treasured urban asset, providing shade and greenery and, critically, each one a sponge for carbon dioxide. Was it really necessary to get out the chainsaw? According to NStar and many other utilities around the country, it is. Recent severe weather, violent thunderstorms, hail, wind shear and tornadoes, the latter historically not common in New England but seemingly appearing with increased frequency, has been toppling trees all over. Limbs and entire trees come down on power lines, and customers are without power for days. Therefore: get rid of the trees, spare the overhead power lines; problem solved. But it’s a classic feedback loop in the era of global climate change, like heat waves prompting greater use of air conditioners, which in turn ramps up energy use in the power grid, and makes the power plants work harder and pump out more greenhouse gas emissions.
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