In an April 17 post in his Atlantic Cities blog, Richard Florida analyzes data from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Project Vulcan, which provides a detailed inventory of CO2 emissions from a variety of sources, including houses, cars, factories, utilities, airports, and so on across 355 U.S. metro areas. Deriving from the data a series of enlightening maps, comparisons and conclusions, Florida, author of The Great Reset: How the Post-Crash Economy Will Change the Way We Live and Work (Harper Business 2011) explains how and why smaller cities, such as Farmington, N.M., contribute the highest levels of greenhouse gases per capita (69 tons per person); while the 12 largest cities in the US, including New York (2.3 tons per person), Los Angeles (1.8 tons), San Diego (1.9 tons), Phoenix (1.9 tons), Washington, D.C. (2.3 tons), Miami (2.2 tons) and Seattle (2.2 tons) rank among the 50 lowest-emitting metros, says Florida.
You can find Florida’s worthwhile analysis, “Why Bigger Cities are Greener,” at the Atlantic Cities website.
To view an interview with Richard Florida on how trends and tendencies in our economy and demography are reshaping our use of space, signaling a new, social “reset” toward urban mega regions and how this will benefit the environment, press play or view the video on YouTube, Richard Florida Discusses The Great Reset of Urban Development in Economic Downturns.
