Urban living

Ever think about how urban living, with the close proximity to work, to the store, etc. must be more efficient? Here's some evidence (thanks to Grist for pointing this out).

These great maps show that cities like Chicago and LA produce a lot of C02 from automobiles. However... only because there are a lot of people living in the city proper. When you map the emissions per capita, the surrounding area of suburbs and exurbs jump out as disproportionatly responsible for emissions by automobiles. The maps illustrate how urban planning and public transit are a crucial to controlling greenhouse gas emissions (and smog-forming emissions).

Separate note: if you're on the Princeton campus today, Congressman Rush Holt is speaking at the "Levee for life" (see next post) at noon.