French farm minister cuts trees.

Beautiful sun dappled avenues of plane and poplar trees will be no longer be a memorable feature of the French countryside if Jean Glavany, the minister of agriculture gets his way. He has just declared that "plane trees lining the roads amount to a public danger". He says they should all be cut down because a government road safety report has blamed them for many fatal road accidents. Apparently speeding French divers, who might otherwise have come to a gentle halt in the middle of a field, are instead hitting the trees at high speed.

Some years ago the existentialist novelist Albert Camus died this way, and more recently a motorcycle accident victim’s friends cut down a few trees, which they blamed for his death! Unfortunately, instead of leading them away for a bit of bereavement counselling, Glavany wants to help them cut down yet more!

Perhaps it was foolish to imagine that the minister for agriculture would care about the environment but his attitude is revealing. "For me this is no time for hesitation. If we cut down all these trees, we can always plant the same number somewhere else."

Before English readers mock they should remember that their government did the same thing long ago. The message is clear. Government road builders started harming the environment when they covered more of it in tarmac than private landowners would have done. The extra car driving and petrol burning harmed it still more, and politicians pandering to safety fanatics makes things worse again.