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The city is on track to meet its goal of planting 75,000 parkway trees by 2026, according to spokesperson Mimi Simon, a statistic environmental advocates think is a good start. With a 23% canopy cover, Chicago falls far below the national average.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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The better metric is how many recently planted trees survive 1 or 5 years after planting and how their growth compares to similar species planted elsewhere.
Trees grow from the ground when squirrels bury the nuts. It’s free and happens naturally. To scream “the city isn’t planting enough trees” it utterly absurd. Grab your own dang acorn off the ground, bury it in the parkway, and in 5 years you’ll have a 5′ tall tree.
I am certain that somehow these trees are racist.
Spot on Tommy. I don’t want any black walnut trees in my hood. Only white pines….
Just wait until you learn about the Chinese White Pine Blister Rust that has decimated white pine forests throughout the western states…