Parks in LA to be Lit with Plants which Glow in the Dark.

Mar 10 2043.

Los Angeles is set to move closer to their carbon neutral target after governor Kelly announced that the city would be augmenting street lights with bioluminescent plants in many public green spaces. The decision has come after the trial in Griffith park - where the city saw the number of park visitors dramatically increase. The series of plants, engineered by Californian biologists in conjunction with China’s Glow Flora company, have become a huge tourist attraction.

Of course, L.A. residents would know that these softly glowing plants have been a part of the Beverly Hills hillside for some time now, with many of the residents preempting the trend and spending millions in shipping the bio engineered plants, as well as paying the fees of specialist gardeners to support the plants and set up moisture fields. 

Not all residents welcome the news, with some complaining that the plants are noticeably duller than the streetlights and have greenish or bluish tint depending on the origin of their glowing gene. Their brightness also depends on the amount of sunlight during the day and the air temperature. 

Environmentalists have warned of more serious consequences and the plant's long term effects on the environment. Among their worries are uncontrolled growth of a potentially invasive glowing species, and the risks of cross pollination with similar non-GMO plants. It is also not clear if it is safe for grazing animals to eat the plants and whether animals will accept the glowing genes and start glowing too. 

Plant producers claim that they turned off the pollination mechanism and plants can not reproduce themself. This practice was perfected by agricultural bioengineering giants which wanted to keep farmers as perpetual customers by denying them the ability to replant genetically modified seeds. Glow Flora also sells a pesticide which was designed to work specifically on glowing plants they produce. 

Glowing plants have attracted the attention of black market with trading and untested reproduction on the rise. “The seeds are not working, but you can still grow plants from cuttings” - shares his insight Tim Yang, an arboretist with Griffith park. “It is in a legal gray area for now, but makes significantly more money than growing weed, intensifying many cannabis farms to diversify into the new glowing field”. 

The city has already announced legislation to taper down the black market plant labs that are in legislator’s words conducting “Illegal biological experimentation” and “IP violation”. The governor hopes that, among other things, introducing these plants to the park will kill-off their black market value, and force some of these labs to close.

Meanwhile another new trend is already on the rise - carnivorous plants which feed on ticks and mosquitoes. Genetic designers claim that plants will eliminate the need of mosquito sprays and laser zaps while looking pretty and smelling like lilacs, roses or any other 17 aromas of your choice.