We're Going To Have To Cut Down A Lot Of Big Trees To Upgrade The Electric Grid For EVs

[thucythucy]

2. We could try burying those lines.

One thing I've always noticed returning to the US from western Europe is how cluttered our streets are with power poles and lines. Not only is it unsightly--until you get used to it again--but it keeps us from planting trees along many of our roads, and yes, as mentioned in this article, it also leads to our cutting down so many old growth trees as well.

Whenever the idea is brought up people inevitably mention the cost. But then, what's the cost of power outages and repairs of downed poles after every major storm? What's the cost--financially--of the constant pruning that's needed of hundreds of thousands of trees every year? And of course, what's the cost to the environment of our slipshod infrastructure maintenance?

A major effort to bury what lines we can would be a huge boost to the environment, but I guess we'd rather spend that money on football stadiums and aircraft carriers.