The finger-pointing escalated this week as some Republicans argued that a major utility company run by Democratic appointees has “woke” policies on diversity and tree-trimming that are the causes of customers’ woes.
There’s bipartisan and widespread consensus that Nashville Electric Service, which serves the city as well as surrounding counties, mishandled the storm, struggling to mobilize enough workers and equipment to quickly clear fallen trees and restore service.
Do they not do clear-cutting for power lines there? The high voltage lines all have a minimum distance that has to be clear of trees where I’m from. Otherwise there would be issues every single year, maybe multiple times a year.
Or is this for residential areas with regular power lines? In that case I’ll agree that clear cutting isn’t a necessity and we’ll just have to accept the occasional freak accident for the sake of maintaining tree canopy in our cities, which is very important, especially in a hot climate where trees provide shade from the scorching sun.