Some Suburbs Making Greener Efforts
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will increasingly be the heavy responsibility of suburban communities. Some are taking steps to accept that responsibility.
"If the United States is ever to reduce its carbon emissions, suburbanites — that is, roughly half of all Americans, said William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution — are going to have to play a big role. And lately, they are trying."
"Since 2005, the mayors of hundreds of suburban communities across America have pledged to meet or even beat the emissions goals set by the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty to reduce greenhouse emissions."
"In November, Levittown, N.Y., the model postwar suburb, declared its intentions to cut carbon emissions by 10 percent this year. And a few suburban pioneers are choosing solar heating for their pools, clotheslines for their backyard, or hybrid cars for their commute."
"But the problem with suburbs, many environmentalists say, is not an issue of light bulbs. In the end, the very things that make suburban life attractive — the lush lawns, spacious houses and three-car garages — also disproportionally contribute to global warming. Suburban life, these environmentalists argue, is simply not sustainable."
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Relocalization and Retrofit
Yes, we collectively, as neighborhoods, municipalities, counties, regions, nation, and world need to pool our economic resources to rebuild and improve our environments to make them walkable. That is, we need to make essential goods and services available to all within walking distance of their homes.
Drivable suburbanism is the single largest misallocation of resources in the history of man. We need to unite our efforts to reverse this trend and build village centers that serve the economic and other community interests of neighbors everywhere.
The age of oil and the age of the automobile need to be put into historical perspective. If we want to assure the use of such resources and technologies for the benefit of future generations, we need to reduce substantially their use. We need to begin soon.
Only with a dedicated and enlightened effort can we hope to make the changes necessary.
www.culturechange.org/Morin.html