Tree Huggers vs. Sun Worshippers

Effective January 1st, California tree huggers have protection against lawsuits filed by owners of solar energy panels. Previously, property owners faced fines of $1,000 when their trees blocked the sun from neighbors' solar panels. Unfortunately, the original law allowed people to build solar installations in the shade and then demand neighbors to cut down their trees.

The change in the law now says that you can't do that. If the trees were already in place before the solar panels were installed, the owners cannot be held liable for blocking their neighbors' solar panels.

In other words, existing trees are grandfathered as exempt from the solar power blocking offenses.

My take on the controversy is a nodding of the head and a muffled "Heh" when this type of issue arises. Often, I'm allowed to enjoy a chuckle after a liberal legislative body passes a "good intentions" law, says "Oops!" and is required to pass another law to correct the fact that the first law wasn't given proper thought prior to implementation.

My favorite example happened about a decade or so ago when Congress passed a 20 percent luxury tax on boats and planes. Sales of American-made boats and private airplanes plummeted to zero. Boy, were the elite in Washington puckered when they heard that the entire boat-building and private aircraft-building industries in the U.S. had laid off their entire workforces.

In the dead of night, Congress convened to repeal the 20 percent luxury tax. Heh.