Even driving hybrid cars won’t reduce global warming pollution much unless we also stop suburban sprawl, says a new report by a coalition of conservation and planning groups.
Emissions would decline much more if people lived in more compact, pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods than they would if they drove a hybrid in a typical suburb.
The problem is that because of inefficient, spread out development, people are driving more. In fact, the number of miles driven has grown three times faster than the population since 1980. If this keeps up, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates the total miles driven will rise 59% by 2030. This would cancel out any gains made by making vehicles more efficient.
On the other hand, if about 60% of new growth were more compact, that would be about equal to a 32 mile per gallon standard for cars. When people can walk to work, walk to shopping, driving drops by 20-40%. The report cites real estate projections showing that two-thirds of development expected to be on the ground in 2050 is not yet built.
"Efficient land use and compact development are the missing pieces of the global warming puzzle," said Amanda Eaken, a policy expert with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). "They’re key to reducing the growth in miles driven. If we don’t rein in this growing source of pollution, it will overwhelm our other efforts to reduce global warming emissions."
While demand for smart-growth development is growing, government regulations, government spending, and transportation policies all still favor sprawling, automobile-dependent development. The report recommends changes in all three areas to make green neighborhoods more available and more affordable. It also calls for including smart-growth strategies as a fundamental tenet in global warming plans at the local, state and federal levels.
In California conservationists are calling for passage of SB 375, a bill requiring the California Air Resources Board to establish an emissions target for personal vehicles and light trucks on a regional basis. The bill provides incentives for local governments and developers to provide housing and jobs close to transportation and transit corridors. Conservationists had hoped SB 375 would pass this summer, and they say it will be one of their top priorities in the 2008 legislative session.
"California’s international leadership on climate change was established with the passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act," said Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), author of SB 375. "We cannot implement this landmark law unless we start planning for growth, housing, green jobs and our transportation infrastructure on a regional basis."
The study, "Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change" represents a collaboration among ClimatePlan and leading urban planning researchers at the University of Maryland, the University of Utah, Fehr and Peers Associates, the Center for Clean Air Policy, and the Urban Land Institute. Smart Growth America coordinated the multi-disciplinary team that developed the recommended policy actions and is leading a broad coalition to develop those strategies further.
To read a copy of the report:
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