Living in the City as a Global Warming Solution

After spending the past two days in NYC, I have to confess: I love this place.

The reasons roll off the tongue: lights, food, diversity. The city is pervaded by a unique sense that anything is possible.

Those who don’t like the city –- and I was one, I admit, for a time –- often cite the fact that it’s crowded and dirty. They prefer a simple place; one that’s clean, one that’s less populated.

More often than not, these aspirations are tied up with ambitions for a small plot of land. People want their tree, their garden, their bird feeder. They put in their time in an office cube to afford their cube of grass in suburbs. The rising price of fuel, and declining value of American homes, has changed this somewhat, but the vision persists.

But spending time in NYC has reminded me of simple truth: our cities are some of the most environmentally friendly places on earth. Dirty they may have been, but clean is where they’re going.

Consider that buildings are where we consume 40% of our energy in America, while transportation is responsible for another third. Meanwhile, fifty per cent of the world population lives in cities.

As NRDC president Frances Beinecke said at the Commonwealth Club, “To save the ice caps, we are going to need a lot of cement and steel and glass.”

I was reminded of this in my activites around the city. And so, before I go, here’s an overview of a day in the life of living in NYC:

Public Transportation: NYC is blessed by an incredible system of subways and buses. From my front door to the office – a distance of about 7 miles by car -- it took me 25 minutes. My apartment, four blocks from the subway. My office, five blocks.

Shared Heat: The heat in my apartment is shared by the apartments around me. Our heating bills are so small as to be insignificant (even in the winter).

Farmer’s Market: From the office, I walked to the Union Square farmer’s market and bought an apple, and some bread.

Thought Leadership: I attended an event on mitigating the financial impacts of climate change. Where else do you get such a group of people together before dinner?

Beer: And let’s not forget the beer. At one of my favorite bars in the city, friends and I drank Brooklyn Lager from the tap. It was brewed across the river by a brewery whose power is offset by wind power.

All this on a day when the City Council was reported likely to pass legislation fining shop owners who leave their doors open and the AC blasting. In a city known for its excess, some things are -- thankfully, naturally -- small.

(Photo courtesy of Kevin Labianco @ flickr, used under the Creative Commons License.)