Posted on 02/25/2008 7:25:32 AM PST by Nevadan
It could only happen in California.
All the parties in the dispute are as green as nori. (It's made from seaweed. You eat it.)
Richard Treanor and his wife, Carolyn Bissett, live in Sunnyvale, Calif.
And Mr. Treanor and Ms. Bissett care so much about the environment that they drive a hybrid Toyota Prius.
Not to be outdone, their neighbor, Mark Vargas, cares so much about the environment that he recently bought a plug-in electric car.
Mr. Treanor and Ms. Bissett topped that. They planted eight redwoods in their yard, preening that the trees -- which can grow to giant heights -- absorb carbon dioxide, cool the surrounding air and provide a habitat for wildlife.
That's nothing, said their neighbor, Mr. Vargas. Encouraged by the California Solar Initiative, which is offering homeowners and businesses more than $3 billion in rebates over the next decade to install solar-electric systems, he covered his roof and backyard trellis with $70,000 worth of solar panels, meaning he buys little or no electricity generated at environmentally bad, bad power plants.
The months went by. The redwoods grew. And their shade fell upon Mark Vargas' solar panels. So Mr. Vargas asked prosecutors to file charges against his neighbors under California's 30-year-old Solar Shade Control Act, which stipulates that a homeowner can "suddenly become a criminal the day a tree grows big enough to shade a solar panel," explains the defendant, Mr. Treanor, a retired engineer.
Indeed, the law requires homeowners to keep their trees or shrubs from shading more than 10 percent of a neighbor's solar panels between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when the sun is strongest. Not a tomato patch that might utilize solar energy to provide a neighbor's family with healthful vitamins, mind you. Just solar panels.
Existing trees that cast shadows when the panels were installed are exempt. But new growth is subject to the law.
Mr. Treanor and Ms. Bissett contend they planted their trees before Mr. Vargas installed his solar panels, in 2001. But is it the date of planting that counts, or the date when the trees grew high enough to shade the panels?
After more than six years of legal wrangling, a judge recently ordered Mr. Treanor and Ms. Bissett to cut down two of their eight redwoods -- the species elevated by Ansel Adams and others to a status equivalent to the Holy Grail in environmental circles.
Residents can be fined up to $1,000 a day for violations, though the judge did not impose any fines against the Treanors.
The couple does not plan to appeal the ruling, because they can no longer afford the legal expenses. They do plan to lobby state lawmakers to change or scrap the law, however.
Bernadette Del Chiaro, clean energy advocate for Environment California, says the solar shade law might need to be revised to prevent similar disputes. Lawmakers might want to "take a look at the policy and make sure it's written in a way that's fair to everybody," she says.
In another place and time, Ms. Del Chiaro might have said, "To make sure everyone's property rights are fully protected."
But this, of course, is California.
Just don't tell Vargas that his car is ultimately probably powered by coal. Or nuclear.
Don't go and confuse anyone with facts.
By the way, if you know anything about Sunnyvale, CA, there is little need for air conditioning or heat, since it is a very stable and mild climate right in between San Jose and San Fransisco. You leave the windows open for about 9 months out of the year.
That battery production and disposal are probably serious toxic issues, as well (depends on the battery type).
The most environmentally-friendly car?
The one you have now, carefully maintained. Don’t buy a new one -— that’s where the impact is.
Carolyn
The Prius, over it’s lifetime, from it’s construction, batteries, and world wide sourcing of materials to put it all together and deliver it to the sheeple who pay too much for it is more destructive to the earth than a Hummer H2.
The $70,000 in solar panels will eventually pay for themselves in about 35 to 40 years. Assuming, of course, they don’t need any maintenance or replacement... And what of the cost to our precious environment to get all those solar panels on the roof? From material sourcing to construction, to delivery and installation... Just think of havoc wrought upon our little blue marble! All to keep an already operating turbine somewhere from making a few more revolutions each month to power up this nut’s house. And how much water a day do eight huge redwoods suck out of the ground?
These are people that think boneless skinless chicken breasts come from parthenogenesis.
THE ARE GOING TO CHOP DOWNS TREES Oh no!!!
I suppose it would be unseemly to cheer for both sides to loose.
This is really a Catch-22 for environmentalists. Oh the humanities...
“THE ARE GOING TO CHOP DOWNS TREES Oh no!!!”
I’d LMAO if the chopped down tree fell on the neighbor’s house.
When I lived in Los Angeles, I always thought this law would be a good way of stopping your neighbor building a two story house next to you.
Just put in some ground level solar panels...:^)
Well, he does have $70k in solar panels on his house to create that electricity. That car is a bit more expensive than he’d care to admit.
No, see, if the sun don’t shine on his solar panels, he can’t go bye bye. In effect, his neighbors put his panels where the sun don’t shine.
“Like a good neighboooor, your yard must be baaaare.”
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