Sunday, December 4, 2011

Storms spark debate over Conn. trees

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/04/9205727-storms-spark-debate-over-conn-trees
Written by: The Associated Press

The state of Connecticut has a high density of trees, with as much as 58% of the statebeing forested. After Hurricane Irene many tree limbs and leaves were brought down onto houses and electric lines were down, which blocked streets and slowed repair trucks. Two months later many more were brought down by a harsh winter snow. Investigators are trying to come up with ways to prevent these problems that leave such large impacts such as the one in October that affected 800,000 utility customers for a week or longer. One of their solutions is to burry the power lines underground to avoid having to cut down so many trees, but United Illuminating claims "It isn't prudent and customers don't appear to be in the mood to pay those costs". Another solution is to trim the trees down a little, but the Greenwich Tree Conservancy says that "takes the heart out of the trees and they die".

Reflection: I think that this is a very hard decision to make, but needs to be done quickly before the winter comes and snow breaks even more branches, breaking more electrical lines. I think ultimately my decision would be to burry the electrical lines because when people think of Connecticut they make connections to images of large trees and at the rate that trees are being cut down for land to build buildings on now a days, I don't think we should be cutting more down if there are other options. Even though burying the lines is very costly, the cost of damage repair due to trees taking down power cables over the years will out weigh the cost of burying them.

Questions:
1) Which do you think is the better option, burying the electrical cables or trimming/cutting down trees?
2) Do you think actually living in Connecticut would change your decision as to which method you think is best?
3) Can you think of any other methods that may help solve this problem?
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3 comments:

  1. lexieharknessDecember 11, 2011 at 7:34 PM

    Reaction:
    I think that it is devastating to Connecticut with all the damages recent storms that have passed through. The trees are snapping and breaking electrical lines and causing major problems. To solve that, the people should pay to get the electrical lines buried. Even though trimming the tree branches seems like a good idea, it makes the trees look unattractive and the trees will die anyway. Many tree companies in horsham trimmed the branches on our trees and it looks horrible! The trees never grow back and they're an eye sore. I definitely think that they should bury the cables, especially if it will save Connecticut money in the long run.

    Questions:
    1. I think that the better option would be to bury the electrical cables because it is better for the trees and it will save money over time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. GreyMDecember 12, 2011 at 3:26 AM

    This article is very interesting because its a matter that affected my grandmother just recently. She was without anything for a few days and ended up having to sleep out our house. I never knew that burying the wires underground was an option. I don't see why we wouldn't do that if it will stop the amount of power outages. It may be a little harder to reach, but then again we wont have to deal with large 12 foot poles to reach when fixing them.

    1. I would go by burying the cables. It seems like it would cause less problems for trees and homeowners. If their underground, not exposed, it will be harder to break them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. bmwendell72December 15, 2011 at 8:34 PM

    I think that this is an interesting article because it shows a tough choice that the people of Connecticut have to make. I think that they should pay for the electrical lines to be buried. It is not a good idea to clear out the trees because that could have many unintended consequences. The state would be better if the electrical lines were buried. That still wouldn't totally solve the problem though, because houses would still be in danger.

    1. I think that burying the electrical lines would be the better option.
    2. I think that living in Connecticut would not change my decision because I would not want my trees cut down.

    ReplyDelete

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