Still the heart of palms

One of the upsides to global warming: By the end of the century, Pittsburgh could well be an ocean resort, overrun with retired seniors from Greenland weaving their golf carts around swaying palms. Until then, we'll have to settle for the Phipps Conservatory to eyeball a magnificent palm. Or go to some hellhole such as Miami or Los Angeles, while they're still above water.

For a while there, it sounded as though Los Angeles was getting rid of its famous palms. Not so, says John Pomfret of The Washington Post. L.A. is simply limiting the planting of one palm species -- the tall and scrawny Mexican fan -- but that announcement, coupled with the city's program to plant 1 million non-palms -- oaks, sycamores and other reliable shade-providers -- was enough to set off a round of media obituaries about the iconic palm.

But it is true that palm trees aren't doing the job. Despite its balmy weather, L.A. is practically bald. Only 17 percent of the sprawling city is covered by tree canopy; the nationwide urban average is 28 percent. Throw in all that pavement, and you have what experts call an urban heat island -- in L.A.'s case, the world's hottest. The city's average temperature has increased about 1 degree per decade. In the 1930s, 100-degree summers were unheard of. Today, they're normal.

Still time to move here, Los Angelenos.

A tree grows in Sacramento

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Other major cities to launch big tree-planting programs include Washington, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Chicago and Denver. In Sacramento, about 375,000 shade trees have been given away to residents since 1990, and 4 million more are yet to be planted. Residents can receive up to 10 free trees and expert planting advice from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, a publicly-owned power company.

Perhaps the most outstanding feature of Sacramento's shade crusade is its rarity, says The Washington Post's Blaine Harden, despite federal research showing that trees can lower summer temperatures, significantly cut air-conditioning bills and absorb greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.

Sacramento's project easily pays for itself, with summertime energy savings about double the cost of the trees. As they mature, trees already planted are expected to save enough electricity to power about 14,000 homes.

From Bush to trees

One mature tree can provide the equivalent of five 10,000 BTU air conditioners running 20 hours a day. Three shade trees strategically planted around a house can reduce home air-conditioning bills by about 30 percent in hot, dry cities, and a nationwide shade program could reduce air-conditioning use by at least 10 percent, according to Energy Department research.

Although Bush administration officials say urban trees are a priority, spending on the federal Urban and Community Forestry Program has declined by about 25 percent in the past four years, from a high of $36 million annually to a proposed $27 million in the coming year.

Pittsburgh needs more green

Most American cities have shrinking tree canopies, because they don't have the money or will to maintain older shade trees and plant new ones. Our own dear Pittsburgh falls into that category. A 2005 inventory showed that the city had just 31,500 street trees, most of them in only fair condition, with more than 1,000 terminal. Thomas Hylton, a tree lover from Pottsville, wrote in this paper a year ago of the importance of trees to Pittsburgh long-term: "Politicians like to lavish money on glamour projects like the stadiums and the convention center. But if Pittsburgh aims to be a place where people live, not just visit, it's vitally important to pay attention to the appearance of its neighborhoods."

Well, it does rhyme

Many people credit Joyce Kilmer, one of the great New Jersey poets, with writing one of the worst poems ever, "Trees." But there's no question his -- and Joyce was a he -- heart was in the right place. He was killed in action at the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918 at age 31.

Trees

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Say what you want about Joyce, he was right about trees. And he has a rest area on the New Jersey Turnpike named after him. How many of us can say that?