Arbor Day 2019 has come and gone and already people are looking beyond the trees and forgetting how important they are. As I look out my window I see fewer trees because our city cuts them down to widen roads and put up ineffective sound barriers by the highways. The trees did a better job of muffling the highway noise. Maybe the theme for Arbor Day 2020 should be "we owe these trees our lives", for we surely do. Observing Arbor Day only once a year seems inadequate.
Despite the reluctance of American conservatives to acknowledge the science of global warming, nations around the world have committed to undoing some of the harm the industrial age has done to Mother Earth. Millions of acres of land will be reforested over the next 10 years. But according to this article that won't be enough. Much of the reforestation will occur on tree plantations, which harvest their trees over and over. Plantations sequester only 1/42nd of the carbon that natural forests of a similar size do.
Cities large and small are planting trees as well. About 100 American cities have joined the Rockefeller Foundation's Urban Resilience initiative. One part of the urban resilience program calls for planting more trees. And yet sadly new research shows that urban trees don't live as long as trees in natural forests. We won't be able to make the Earth greener just by planting more trees in the cities. And I believe one reason why these trees don't live as long as their cousins in the countryside is that cities are too willing to cut down old growth trees. They may pose a danger if they stand too close to buildings, but many lovely trees that once lined our neighborhood roads have been removed. They were not diseased. They were simply "in the way".
I believe we should all do something about climate change. Each of us must play a part in reducing our demand for environmentally damaging goods and in rebuilding the environment. One easily finds lists of things to do to fight climate change. But we lose heart quickly. My most ardent neighbors recycle their trash faithfully but they are reluctant to plant more trees in their yards. And homeowners associations may pass rules against climate-friendly yard designs. One must always keep the grass green and clipped or pay a fine!
Changing how we use the environment and protect it takes time. I was heartened to find this lovely article from an engineer who has spent his life changing the world. Engineers have cleaned up our rivers, made our waste management more productive, improved the efficiency of our power systems, and introduced too many changes to list. In 1970 the world was much dirtier than it is today. But there was more polar ice, more forested land, and more living animal species then. Now we're not certain we and all our eco-friends will survive the next century. The engineers can do only so much. The rest of us must help them.
The Union of Concerned Scientists are asking each of us to be a voice that is heard around the world. The more of us who speak up and demand greater eco-accountability from our leaders, the better. We have only a few years left before we pass the point of no return. Greedy business people stand between us and the future. Not all business people, but executives at companies like Chevron have made it clear they value profit over survival. They are fools and we should not reward them with our dollars.
The power of the consumer may change the world more than anything else. If you refuse to spend money on products that destroy the environment these companies will have to reform their ways. Their executives answer to their investors and their investors want to make profits. We must ensure that only environmentally conscious companies are profitable. Reward good behavior. Only reward good behavior.
