Killing trees on Earth Day

Economic development collided with Earth Day ideals this week outside a kindergarten classroom in York. And it wasn't pretty.

My wife, Ashley, teaches kindergarten in York. On Tuesday morning, her class of 20 5- and 6-year-olds celebrated Earth Day. She taught them about recycling, saving water and how trees and plant life help produce oxygen so humans have clean air to breathe.

She stressed the importance of recycling garbage, not littering and preserving trees.

After the lesson, the children lined up and walked outside for recess, where right in front of their eyes a bulldozer was pushing down a cluster of trees.

"They're killing trees on Earth Day," a little girl in the class screamed, tears welling up in her eyes, no doubt remembering the lesson on trees providing air for us to breathe.

Next door to the school, a neighborhood of homes for low-income residents is being developed.

How do you explain that one to a bunch of innocent children who just learned about preserving our environment?

York needs the housing. There are many low-income families that will benefit from the homes being built. The developer recently completed a similar project down the road and it looks great and has filled a need.

Ashley told the class that maybe someone should remind the man on the bulldozer how important trees are to our community.

Not bad advice. Especially for developers clearing ground next to an elementary school.