By Bethanee Jensen
I have been caught twice so far this winter trying to make it home in blinding, blowing snow.
I noticed that there is a pronounced difference between roads next to woodlots or even evergreen trees as opposed to open fields. Open fields are a recipe for white-out conditions.
Listen here:
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I would like to suggest that the province incent planting double rows of evergreen trees along all the roadways in Ontario that are not already protected by trees. Given that the Ontario Liberal government has instituted a cap and trade system that is supposed to be revenue neutral, which will also include forestry offsets, and the government is promoting more green infrastructure, Premier Wynne should find a way to fund this tree planning initiative.
This may seem like an outside-the-box idea, but it has a lot of merit. The trees would serve as a windbreak to reduce or eliminate white-out conditions. This in turn would decrease accidents – from single vehicle accidents to 100-vehicle pile-ups such as we have already seen on the 401 this winter. This has spin-off benefits, including reducing insurance premiums, which is another of Premier Wynne’s objectives; reducing health care costs to treat the injured, not to mention reducing loss of life; eliminating further carbon emissions from those attending to the accidents and those waiting for the roads to be cleared; and finally reducing waste from damaged vehicles which end up as scrap.
Tree windbreaks would reduce costs for municipalities as well. These would include reduced snow removal required because of reduced drifting snow and reduced costs for first responders ie. police, firefighters and paramedics, due to fewer accidents. I’m sure drivers would appreciate the reduced risk from poor visibility and the reduced inconvenience of closed roads. Businesses would not lose production due to employees not being able to get to work.
Tree windbreaks would benefit farmers as well by reducing soil erosion caused by wind. As OMAFRA’s website points out, sheltering windbreaks can have other benefits for farmers as well, including sheltering livestock and horticulture crops.
Since trees sequester carbon, what better place to have them than immediately adjacent to where the carbon is emitted by automobiles. More trees will have a positive impact on our overall air quality. This is a win-win scenario for just about everyone and would fit very well under the green infrastructure spending category.
Lastly, the trees would be very visible evidence that Premier Wynne is actually using the money raised from cap and trade as promised.
