They’ll Be Sorry
November 6th, 2009 - 3:16 pm
The Yuppies two doors down are chopping down the two old, large trees in their front yard –or at least totally mutilating them– so they can put solar panels on their roof. While I all “bravo” for using alternative energies, they will regret this decision. Not next week or next month, but next summer when they have to run their air conditioning non-stop to keep their house somewhat cool, they’ll be sorry they traded the shade provided by those two trees for a few solar panels that will never make up the difference in energy usage to cool a house sitting in full summer sunlight.
There’s a reason people in Texas like trees, and it isn’t just because they are pretty. We have a couple of trees that shade the roof over the bedroom. Even in the heat of the hottest summer, with no windows open and the air conditioner turned off, the bedroom is pleasantly cool all day … unlike the rest of the house that turns into an oven as soon as the sun is up over the neighborhood treeline. So, we wish we had trees shading the house, so we could save energy. We don’t, so we want to put up some solar panels. Meanwhile, people who have cool houses (and low energy bills) are chopping down trees to put up solar panels that won’t even create enough energy to cool their house next summer. Pretty crazy, and a shame too. Those trees were huge and old and beautiful.
Oh well. They’ll learn the hard way, and then there won’t be anything they can do about it but plant some trees and wait 25-30 years. Poor, poor Yuppies.
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3 Responses to “They’ll Be Sorry”
That whole fascination with solar collectors came and went in a few short years during the 1970’s here in NM. Those alienated souls who must worship at the altar of technology, or man over nature, are always having to realign their faith as newer crap becomes available for conspicuous consumption. It might have been VCRs or Intellivision back then.
People get advanced degrees in marketing just to be better at manipulating Anglo-Saxon need for self-pride and community acceptance. If you want to see it in a nutshell, look at the electronics for sale section of craigslist. Page after page of technocrap and buyers’ remorse jumping off the screen.
HA! sounds like a case of cutting off the nose to spite the face. TFF!
If these people were seeking community acceptance, they should have rotting eaves and flaking paint like the rest of us!
On our big picture, long view plan for things to do to our house, adding some solar collectors is actually on the list. But a metal roof with the thin film on it is the only way to go. More efficient, won’t shatter during the first spring hail storm, won’t get ripped off by high winds, and once the new manufacturing plants get up to speed will be much cheaper.
And we won’t have to cut down any trees, because our roof gets more than enough sun (like all day). I would never cut down trees to install solar panels. It’s stupid.