City of Atlanta has never prioritized tree canopy
It has taken a while, but I now realize that the tree canopy and tree ordinance are just not a priority for the City of Atlanta. As the old song puts it, “I can see clearly now, the rain is gone.”
That the canopy was not a priority should have been clear at the time of the Public Safety Training Center decision. The need for a center was not sudden. Given that makeshift situation, it should have been a priority for the city planning department to find, work out and propose solutions.
Evidently, the department was not even consulted on the center decision. Instead, a site that required tree removal and disrupted a green area set aside by the City Design Document, adopted by the council as the guide to the city’s growth and development, was chosen despite all. (Evidently, after ranking at the bottom of the list of cities cited as the worst for economic/social mobility, Charlotte got to work while Atlanta sank to the bottom.).
The city has lots of problems that need priority, of course, but it has a mission and people to carry it out and take the long view. Enter the planning department. And the help available with Georgia Tech being in Atlanta. Every time I see the bridge over Northside Drive to the stadium, I recall the advice from Tech’s planning program and shudder.
I do not like feeling hopeless/helpless, and I remember that, not so long ago, parks were not a priority for the city. The 911 effort by citizens before a mayoral election began the change that has seen major improvement. We must have hope. Either that or “imagine Sisyphus happy.”
ALIDA C. SILVERMAN, ATLANTA
Trump pays to stop clean energy development
President Donald Trump is plundering the environment by bribing companies to abandon wind farms and switch to investments in fossil fuels.
According to the environmental group National Resources Defense Council, RWE U.S. Offshore just reached a $1.2 billion settlement with Trump to walk away from its leases in New York, California, and Louisiana. Instead, it is investing in a natural gas pipeline in Louisiana, with 14 more planned across the country.
So far, $4 billion in taxpayer dollars have been given to companies to abandon clean energy development and switch to oil, natural gas and coal. This is only the beginning. The White House is contacting all companies involved in clean energy production and offering them something they can’t refuse. Duke Energy received $129 million to halt an offshore wind farm that generated enough power for 300,000 homes.
As costs for consumers continue to rise, the United States enriches the fossil fuel barons while producing more pollution. Americans deserve clean, affordable energy and a healthy environment now.
It is wrong to use taxpayer money to make life less affordable. This is not making America great again.
SANDIE WEBB, DECATUR
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