My solar client's tree removal request hit a moral nerve
Last week, a homeowner hired me to take out a fully grown oak so they could put up solar panels on their south-facing roof. They said it was for climate action, to cut their carbon footprint. But here's the thing: that tree was probably pulling more carbon out of the air than the panels would save for years. I told them straight up that it seemed backwards to kill a living carbon sink for a machine. They argued that solar is the future and trees can be replanted. Sure, but you can't replace decades of growth overnight. It left me questioning if we're too quick to trade nature for tech in the name of being green. Sometimes, the best climate action might just be leaving things alone.