Tree Hugger's Meltdown

[RidgeTopWVA]

 

[Hoss710]

Some emotional people there !! think they made the trees even sadder lol !!

 

[NHBX]

The things you see when you don’t have a chainsaw with you!

 

[Hay Dude]

Now THERE’S a group I want to hang out with

 

[Omega Woods]

Kept looking for Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein in the crowd.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I like trees but I don't consider myself a tree hugger. I like to think I'm environmentally responsible though. My views on the subject changed considerably after an incident that happened 20 years ago.

I live in a rural area fed by a single phase powerline serving a total of 14 customers. In 2003, the local power company asked permission to trim trees adjacent to the line. 13 of the property owners agreed but one tree hugger refused.

Sure enough, in 2004, hurricane Ivan tore through the state creating a massive number of power outages. We were not hit hard locally but a single branch on that tree hugger's property came down on the line. It tripped the breaker and all 14 customers were out of power for 15 days! It normally would have taken about 15 minutes to reset the breaker but due to the small number of customers involved, we were way down on the power companies priority list.

As a result of that extended outage, a farmer lost some livestock, a diner went out of business and the rest of us had to drive 40 miles to get gas for our generators. So much hate was heaped on this poor tree hugger that he eventually moved away.

I can't help but wonder if this is the cost we have to pay for loving trees.

 

[LouNY]

I just got so disgusted I couldn't watch or listen to it all.

 

[RidgeTopWVA]

 

[RidgeTopWVA]

I just got so disgusted I couldn't watch or listen to it all.

 

[Omega Woods]

I like trees but I don't consider myself a tree hugger. I like to think I'm environmentally responsible though. My views on the subject changed considerably after an incident that happened 20 years ago.

I live in a rural area fed by a single phase powerline serving a total of 14 customers. In 2003, the local power company asked permission to trim trees adjacent to the line. 13 of the property owners agreed but one tree hugger refused.

Sure enough, in 2004, hurricane Ivan tore through the state creating a massive number of power outages. We were not hit hard locally but a single branch on that tree hugger's property came down on the line. It tripped the breaker and all 14 customers were out of power for 15 days! It normally would have taken about 15 minutes to reset the breaker but due to the small number of customers involved, we were way down on the power companies priority list.

As a result of that extended outage, a farmer lost some livestock, a diner went out of business and the rest of us had to drive 40 miles to get gas for our generators. So much hate was heaped on this poor tree hugger that he eventually moved away.

I can't help but wonder if this is the cost we have to pay for loving trees.

Around here, the power companies don’t ask permission to trim trees in the right of way. They just do it with gusto and a particularly inartistic flair.