Save trees for the good of our health
I suspect we have become, by and large, a white collar country with little knowledge or skill to deal with day to day “blue collar issues,” but the problems this causes are truly life threatening. In Niskayuna, the care and maintenance of trees seems to include removal on request of residents, with little examination as to the necessity of the removal by a qualified professional. Despite what town code chapter 201-8 specifies, “The Town shall replant or replace any public tree that it removes, wherever practicable,” roughly 90 percent of trees have been removed in old Niskayuna with maybe 25 percent have been replanted.Trees give 20 percent of our oxygen. Tree cover has an positive effect on helping reduce respiratory disease, including deaths, in children, the elderly and even in otherwise healthy adults from asthma. Trees cool the streets and keep the deadly gases produced from the heating of organic volatile compounds found in blacktop out of the air. They prevent flooding and landslides.It’s dangerously short-sighted to undertake such extreme denuding of public and private lands. Let’s see which is more important: your life and the ability to go to sleep at night and not worry that you may die from asthma or the ability to drive your SUV up to your front door and sit and play with your cell phone.Beth R. JacobsNiskayunaMore from The Daily Gazette:Foss: Should main downtown branch of the Schenectady County Public Library reopen?EDITORIAL: Beware of voter intimidationPuccioni’s two goals help Niskayuna boys’ soccer top Shaker, remain perfectNiskayuna girls’ cross country wins over BethlehemEDITORIAL: Urgent: Today is the last day to complete the census It has become a frightening trend to cut trees down to suit property owners. Trees on both public and private property are being cut down with little regard to the value they bring or if they truly need to be removed. They aren’t being replaced, either. Categories: Letters to the Editor, Opinion