This link has been bookmarked by 19 people . It was first bookmarked on 25 Jan 2008, by Yule Heibel.
-
05 Feb 13
-
How could a car that gets 135 mpg-equivalent not be a major harbinger of sustainability?
Because the answer to the problem of the American car is not under the hood, and we're not going to find a bright green future by looking there.
-
the procurement of the materials used to make and maintain that car (and then dispose of it at the end of its life) may mean that almost half of the direct climate impact of a car never comes out of its tailpipe.
-
the cost of the water polluted by cars in the U.S. alone
"totals $29 billion per year ... Note that this estimate excludes costs of residual runoff, shoreline damage, leaking underground storage tanks,reduced groundwater recharge and increased flooding due to pavement, so it is considered a conservative value."
-
With a massive network of roads and an average of more than three parking spaces per car (less in dense cities, more in the suburbs), auto-focused transportation infrastructure contributes mightily to the heat island effect, which worsens air quality and increases energy used on air conditioning.
-
A study quoted in the 9/05 issue of the Journal of Urban Planning and Development estimates that the greenhouse gasses emitted while building and maintaining roads add an additional 45% to the average car's annual climate footprint.
-
The number of miles Americans drive has grown three times faster than the population since 1980, and twice as fast as the increase in vehicle registrations... The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects total miles driven to increase by 59 percent by 2030, which the report's authors say would cancel out whatever reductions in carbon dioxide might be achieved by improving the gas mileage of cars and trucks."
-
more than 3.5 million Americans now drive more than three hours a day to get to and from work, spending a month of their lives on the road each year. Meanwhile, people who live in the newer fringe-burbs are reportedly the least happiest of Americans, and the long commutes they endure are a major reason why
-
A commuter who travels one hour, one way, would have to make 40% more than his current salary to be as fully satisfied with his life as a noncommuter
-
Our efforts to build a one-planet prosperity may involve an astonishing variety of new approaches, but in the U.S., we most need to adopt one solution that leverages almost all the others: stop sprawl and build well-designed compact communities. That's because the land-use patterns in our communities dictate not only how much we drive, but how sustainable we're able to be on all sort of fronts.
-
surrounding neighborhood cores that have lots of people, many homes, shops and offices, with less dense but walkable residential areas can make for places that actually feel far more livable and relaxed than most conventional new suburbs
-
we'll be rebuilding half our built environment between now and 2030. Done right, that new construction could enable a complete overhaul of the American city.
-
.Road tolls, parking taxes and congestion pricing can serve a double purpose -- disincentivizing driving while generating enough funds to pay for new, comfortable and effective transit services.
-
Cradle-to-cradle systems, in which materials either go back to industry or safely back to the soil, are built for effective resource recovery. In such a system, each part of every car is either returned to the soil or recovered and reused in the assembly of new cars, generating extraordinary productivity and consistent employment."
-
I believe that green compact communities, smaller well-built homes, walkable streets and smart infrastructure can actually offer a far better quality of life than living in McMansion hintersprawl in purely material terms: more comfort, more security, more true prosperity.
-
-
05 Apr 09
-
20 Feb 09
-
03 Jan 09
-
09 Nov 08
-
02 Nov 08
-
04 Apr 08
donaldab dnvWsdUABuilding dense but livable cities will do more to cut transportation generated GHGs than raising car mileage standards.
-
04 Mar 08
-
24 Feb 08
greg bloomAbout how societal sustainability must be met first and foremost by a transition to denser, more walkable cities.
cities design green peakoil sustainability future urbanism newurbanism walking localization
-
21 Feb 08
Todd Suomelawhy I believe building compact communities should be one of America's highest environmental priorities, and why..our obsession with building greener cars may be obscuring.. the problem and some of the benefits of using land-use change as a primary sustain
urbanism environment transportation design future import-delicious
-
10 Feb 08
-
31 Jan 08
-
29 Jan 08
Would you like to comment?
Join Diigo for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.