When NYU professor Andrew Ross published his book "Bird on Fire: Lessons from the World’s Least Sustainable City" about Phoenix, it caused quite a stir: http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/the-folly-of-sustainable-cities. Not only did Ross give the book a dismal sounding title, but he also discussed several difficult issues related to long-term sustainability (or lack thereof) and the conflated issues of environmental/economic justice and civil rights -- particularly in lower income neighborhoods surrounding downtown and central city south, where we have replaced lush riparian and farming areas with intense industrial, automotive, landfill, and dusty sand/gravel extraction businesses.

Most striking in this discussion, which has also been presented expertly by Shaun McKinnon of the Arizona Republic, is that of air pollution and land use at the core of our metropolitan area: http://www.azcentral.com/news/air-quality/?content=1-overview.

Ever since kindergarten, we have learned that trees can make a big difference in providing shade and cooler surroundings. Research supports this notion. The city government and our local utility companies have even talked extensively about our need for more trees:

http://phoenix.gov/greenphoenix/urbanforest.html
http://phoenix.gov/parks/shade.html
http://www.srpnet.com/energy/powerwise/savewithsrp/shadetrees.aspx
http://www.aps.com/main/green/choice/choice_126.html

However, when residents request more tree plantings on streetscapes and in our parks, we are told that the city lacks sufficient resources for planting and maintaining new vegetation. Plus, looking at an aerial view of the city's targeted redevelopment areas shows us that our policy is to cover lots in gravel instead of trees.

Let's stop talking and start doing. We can build on resources already in place by unleashing the benefit of vacant lots. We need to start planting native trees wherever possible and worry less about maintenance than growth.