Lighting The Rockefeller Christmas Tree

Tonight is the lighting of the The 84-foot-tall, 60-year-old Norway spruce Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. Although I would never dream of attending the lighting ceremony (too many people for my comfort level), I always make it a point of heading over to Rockefeller Center some time during the season and checking out the tree first hand - just to get some ideas on how to decorate my own.

This year, every one who has anything to do with this tree, from the largest tenant at Rockefeller (NBC/Universal/GE) to Rockefeller Center's owner (Tishman Speyer) are making a ballyhoo of how the tree is so friendly to the environment or "green" as all the marketing execs are calling it these days. Apparently the greenness they are referring to are the LED lights on the tree, which will be partially powered by solar panels.


Of course, none of these eco-warriors mention the fact that they killed a majestic thing of natural beauty and dragged it through the streets to prop up for our enjoyment. The tree's corporate killers will, however, save millions of dollars through the use of the LEDs and solar panels and I guess that's what "Going Green" is really all about - helping the little, globally toxic-spewing corporations save some money.


Don't get me wrong - I love Christmas and decorating and making a huge deal of this season and it just wouldn't be the same without the tree at Rockefeller. But what drives me crazy is this hypocritical hype. If they really want to help the environment rather than exploit the gullible, why not choose a slightly smaller tree (say a teensy 60 foot tall one) but allow space at the base to keep the tree's roots so it could be replanted? Now that's green!