Last week we posted on ConnDOT's infamous clearcutting assaults on the environment, and we're not dropping it.
The agency's Vegetation Management Guidelines that address tree removal have ZERO references to climate, climate change, or sustainability. And that of course is the problem.
The guidelines leave far too much to the discretion and judgement of those involved. Whoever's calling the shots on DOT's clearcutting clearly has no awareness of climate change or sustainability, even though the guidelines are as recent as 2021.
Clearcutting is an exceedingly overbroad response to overblown safety rationales, where excessive driving speed is far more likely to blame than a tree falling across the road.
This is about more than "aesthetics." ConnDOT's out-of-control clearcutting destroys trees that:
This is about more than "aesthetics." ConnDOT's out-of-control clearcutting destroys trees that:
- store carbon - that's what we need!
- live along the road, where CO2 emissions are especially high (cars & trucks are CT's biggest source of emissions)
- prevent erosion
- provide cooling shade, helping to counter blazing hot road surfaces
- help clean groundwater, and
- provide wildlife habitat, which is being lost at a calamitous rate.
Even worse, clearcutting ADDS to emissions because carbon is released when the trees are cut down.
Yes, we know it's a big ship to turn with long-ingrained bad habits, but it's absolutely time for ConnDOT to get on the right side of climate action and stop being part of the problem.
So how bout it, @geucalitto and @GovNedLamont? The climate emergency is a code red for humanity, so let's get cracking and fix DOT's clearcutting obsession.
So how bout it, @geucalitto and @GovNedLamont? The climate emergency is a code red for humanity, so let's get cracking and fix DOT's clearcutting obsession.
Besides, we wouldn't want to be hypocrites about this now, would we?
@FoAorg @EdStannard @CLF @SunriseConn @CTLCV1 @CTConservation @ctclimatejobs @CTClimateAction @CTClimateChange @kscharfdykes
RELATED: https://www.ctclimatenews.org/2023/06/conndots-clearcutting-couldnt-be-more.html