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Ronald Reagan once said that trees cause more pollution than automobiles do. Some wag responded by putting up signs on trees, begging "Cut me down before I kill again".
Nowadays everybody knows trees are the good guys. Trees are becoming symbols of ecological virtue and thus political bargaining chips. In the absence of a really comprehensive green policy for London, Ken and Boris can at least compete in promising to plant more trees than each other. Boris has talked vaguely about such matters as recycling schemes, protecting green spaces and promoting bikes, but by far his most specific green pledge has been to plant an extra 10,000 street trees in London, concentrating on deprived areas - paying for them by abolishing Livingstone's vainglorious freesheet, The Londoner, thus scoring a dendrophile coup on both fronts. It sounds eminently achievable. Or to put it another way, over-modest.
Because Ken thinks big. As well as attacking gas-guzzlers and preventing homeowners turning front gardens into car-parking, he has called for the planting of a million trees by 2012, although he hasn't revealed how the Great Forest of Livingstone would be financed.
He produced this impressive figure while taking his tour group of 80 "ambassadors" and 20 aides around India last year, having been inspired by what has been done in Delhi. "We're heading for some tremendously hot summers," he said. "People will start dying in their thousands if we don't start planting trees to cool the streets."
And he displayed his horticultural expertise by predicting which trees would cope with the heat, observing that many native varieties won't. "The London plane will be fine but a lot of silver birch won't make it," he forecast. "Fig trees are going to be brilliant. In 10 years, we will be growing oranges."
There are few enough native trees in London's streets anyway, Livingstone may or may not know. The horse chestnut came from southern Europe in the 17th century. The London plane is no such thing, a hybrid first recorded around the same time. The gingko came from China in 1689. Robinias, or pseudo-acacias, were introduced from America and spread around London by William Cobbett in the 1800s.
Trees are thus a rich part of London's post-imperial, multicultural heritage, Ken might like to emphasise, as well as each and every one an ecological boon. For his part, Boris needs to raise his bid in the bosky stakes. Trees could yet be great beneficiaries of the candidates' campaign promises. There are said to be five million in London but the more we have the better. Truth be told, some of us prefer them to people.
Reader views (5)
Apparently some people are naive enough to believe every statistic this government spews forth, whether it's that 400,000 trees have been planted or anything else.
In 2006, Labour claimed that since 1997, they had cut CO2 emissions by 28 million tonnes. However, this was compared with the amount of emissions that would have been released if they'd done nothing at all.
Emissions since 1997 had actually gone up by 6 million tonnes, so in fact pollution has got worse.
They also say they've "cut emissions by 6%". But that statistic is only true if you start counting from 1990, when the Conservatives were in power. Emissions went down until 1997, but have gone up again under Labour and are now 6% 'less high' than they were in 1990.
So I'm not willing to trust Labour government statistics, whether they're about trees, CO2 or anything else.
- Jonathon Morgan, London, UK
I agree with Diana - Down with 'facts' and statistics. I don't believe it!
It's like this CO2 nonsense - where is this "CO2"? I can't see it!
Just the other day, some guy was telling me the earth revolved round the sun....
- Liam, London
I'm not sure if 10,000 is Boris' ultimate target for the number of trees to be planted, or if it's simply that this particular 10,000 will be paid for by scrapping Ken's environmentally damaging, waste of money propaganda newspaper, 'The Londoner'.
Either way, at least it sounds realistic and we know where the funds will come from.
Ken's proposals, on the other hand, sound like they'll be rather expensive (and will probably rely on the taxpayer as usual).
I'd also be interested to know where these thousands of trees have been and will be planted- where I live, all I've seen is trees being cut down!
- Robert Cunningham, Harrow, London, UK
No one believes for a minute that 400,000 trees have already been planted. Where? And how were they funded?
Ken, like Gordon Brown and the rest of them, simply spout the first figures that come into their heads when trying to make an impression.
Boris's 10,000 trees sounds easily achievable and moreover, it is being funded by removing acres of paper rubbish from the streets of London by getting rid of Ken's personal propaganda newspaper.
- Diana, Paddington W2, London, UK
Ken launched the Million Trees Campaign - and the campaign has already planted over 400,000 so are well on the way to reaching a million by 2012.
If you want to vote for the trees, you've got to vote for Ken and Siān, in the order of your choosing. Compared with the Million Trees campaign, Boris's pledge to plant just 10,000 in four whole years looks pathetic.
- Paul, London, UK
