Our town’s Shade Tree Commission is responsible for the care and maintenance of trees growing on town property, including parks and recreational areas. The Commission also supposedly reviews and approves plantings around new construction and oversees tree removal at building sites. Something is going wrong, though. The trees are disappearing. Our town, once characterized by beautiful greenery, is beginning to look like a wasteland—all for the sake of commerce. A new shopping area was just built on a wooded lot. The shade trees on the town’s right-of-way should have been preserved. Instead, all 57 trees on the lot were taken down. The Shade Tree Commission demanded that the developer be fined and new trees be planted along the right-of-way. But perhaps the Commission should have paid attention in the first place! Our town is known for its tree-lined streets and park-like properties. Should we sit idly by while commerce is allowed to blight the landscape?

1. What is the writer’s claim in this argument?

2. What is one piece of evidence supporting the writer’s claim?