Green Cities
According to a new report by Marilyn A. Brown, et al., (”Shrinking the Carbon Footprint of Metropolitan America“) each resident of the 100 largest US metropolitan areas is responsible on average for about 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide in energy consumption each year, 14% below the 2.9 ton national average.
Those 100 cities (where two thirds of the people in the US live) still account for 56% of the nation’s carbon dioxide pollution. But their greater use of mass transit and population density reduce the per-person average.
Emissions of carbon dioxide are highest in the eastern US, where people rely heavily on coal for electricity. They are lower in the West, where weather is more favorable and where electricity and motor fuel prices have been higher.
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:08 pm
This obviously counter-intuitive statistic is further evidence of suburbia’s carbon influence. When I lived in DC, I loved the use of public transportation and the ability to walk to almost anything I needed. There are times now, in a beautiful small town, that I dream about the Metro.
John McCain is in love with Iraq.