East Palo Alto’s tree shortage problem leaves it susceptible to climate change

by Jennah Haque, Peninsula Press January 5, 2022January 7, 2022

Kavanaugh Drive in East Palo Alto — a city where the median annual income is 67,000 — stands in stark contrast to more lushly covered residential streets in neighboring Palo Alto. A lack of tree coverage can result in higher energy bills that disproportionately affect low-income families, environmental experts say. (Image via Stanford Journalism/YouTube)

COMMUNITY MEMBERS ARE up bright and early on Nov. 20 at All Five, a preschool in Menlo Park’s Belle Haven neighborhood.

And they’re hard at work. Students are digging holes with shovels taller than they are. Parents are wicking away dirt from tree roots. Marty Deggeller, who’s been planting for 25 years in the area, stabilizes the young tree with a metal pipe so it will grow straight. By the end of the event, they’ll have planted 17 trees on the school grounds with Canopy, a tree planting nonprofit.

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