00:00The city of Atlanta values its lush green tree canopy and has an ordinance in place to help protect it.
00:14The trees lose at every turn.
00:18If you aren't going to protect trees, then change the name of the ordinance.
00:22Atlanta without the tree canopy will become a heat island.
00:25We're number three in the nation in terms of temperature rise.
00:28And if we continue to lose trees, we're going to not be number three, we're going to be number one.
00:33It cannot be replaced.
00:36You cannot plant it back.
00:42This is what Atlanta has that other cities don't have.
00:47And Atlanta, tragically, does not recognize what it has.
00:51And we're losing this day after day after day after day.
00:55And I don't know if we're going to catch it in time.
00:59Trees are Atlanta's most precious natural resource except for air and water.
01:03We're the only major city in the country that still has the old-growth forest.
01:09It's about what's unique about Atlanta is these 16- and 14-story trees.
01:15I mean, who has that?
01:17South Carolina, Florida, you don't see trees like this.
01:20To have such a rich variety of huge hardwoods and conifer trees is rare on earth.
01:30Atlanta has a unique opportunity here to set the stage for making an ordinance that is honest and meaningful.
01:38If we don't do it right, we're going to look silly in the eyes of the rest of the nation.
01:43There's an opportunity for Atlanta to be that very special city in the forest that people talk about.
01:49It's still here in places.
01:51And every single week, we're losing chunks of it.
01:55It's a tragedy.
01:56It's disappearing with people not even realizing that it's here.
01:59You can go anywhere and find restaurants and interesting things to do.
02:04But you don't go anywhere and find an urban forest.
02:08Trees are giant green filters and essential to our healthy living.
02:13Remember, without trees, life as we know it would not exist.
Comments