Dem
47
GOP
53
We often use this space to note promising developments in green research. As chance would have it, there was a lot of coverage this week about the enormous environmental benefits of... trees.
That trees are a good thing is not a new insight. They knew that all the way back in Theodore Roosevelt's time. However, two new studies highlight that if cities plant enough trees, assuming they are the right kind, it can have a significant impact on urban heat, reducing the "urban heat island effect" by about 40%. And while it does cost money to plant and maintain trees, the money is repaid threefold (that is, $3 in benefit for every $1 spent), because more bearable temperatures increase property values (and thus property taxes), and because more trees means more people keeping active and fewer people suffering heat-related conditions, which reduces healthcare-related expenditures.
Meanwhile, a third new study reveals that spreading crushed basalt rock on new forests allows the trees to grow more quickly, and allows them to absorb more carbon, thus helping to combat global warming. This insight may not be terribly relevant when governments plant trees in urban areas, but it will certainly help when it comes to larger foresting and reforesting projects.
And finally, it's not exactly tree-related, but we'll pass it along anyhow. China, in contrast to some other major industrialized nations who shall remain nameless, has been working to shift its economy toward renewable energy. And the Chinese are now officially generating more of their energy from non-coal sources than from coal. Coal is now down to 49.7% of that nation's energy mix. That's still a heckuva lotta coal, but things are nonetheless headed in the right direction, with renewables rising to 41.2% of the mix. Donald Trump can keep plugging "clean, beautiful coal" all he wants, but the environmental pressure against that fuel source is considerable, and the economic pressure is even greater, and will be decisive.
Have a good (rest of your) weekend, all! (Z)