Housing

Trees vs. Power Lines: Will We Have to Choose?

The debate over how to secure our nation's power grids comes courtesy of yet another climate change-related feedback loop.
Reuters

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?