How Trees Cool Our Cities And Save Us Billions

Tree-Planting Drive Seeks To Bring a New Urban Cool - Lower Energy Costs Touted as Benefit

By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 4, 2006

SACRAMENTO -- This city believes an answer for global warming is growing on trees.

In this article:  Blaine Harden of the Washington Post mentions key evidence linking substantial benefits to planting many trees in urban communities.  Excerpts (listed here) from his article point out that tree shade actually saves major cities billions.

"Perhaps the most arresting feature of Sacramento's shade crusade is its rarity, despite federal research showing that carefully planted trees can lower summertime temperatures in cities, significantly reduce air-conditioning bills and trap greenhouse gases responsible for global warming."

When city management neglects to provide tree planting and care over many years, an overall reduction of beneficial tree shade is noticed: 

"Most American cities have shrinking tree canopies in relation to their growth. That's because of inadequate budgets to maintain older trees and a failure to plant shade trees in new residential and commercial developments, according to federal experts, tree-planting organizations and scholars of urban ecology.

'This is like a creeping cancer,' said Deborah Gangloff, the group's executive director. 'In the two dozen cities we have studied, we have noticed about a 25 percent decline in tree canopy cover over the past 30 years. This is a dramatic trend that is costing cities billions of dollars.'

Many major utility companies are declining to act on the connection between urban trees and energy savings, according to Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey, who oversees the Forest Service."

So just how much money can be saved by planting trees for the sole purpose of shade?  Not to mention the many other benefits of planting trees in urban centers.

"Three shade trees strategically planted around a house can reduce home air-conditioning bills by about 30 percent in hot, dry cities such as Sacramento, and a nationwide shade program similar to the one here could reduce air-conditioning use by at least 10 percent, according to Energy Department research."

Full article:  Tree-Planting Drive...

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