Today’s on-line version of the New York Times featured an article entitled “The Climate Impact of Your Neighborhood Mapped” by Nadja Popovich, Mira Rojanasakul and Brad Plummer. A map of the United States was included; you could zoom in and out of individual cities and rural areas. The darker the green color, the less the geographical area was contributing to global warming.
Most of the greenest areas of the map were located in the heart of large cities. Manhattan was almost all dark green, Kansas had almost no green whatsoever.
Large cities have more people living in smaller homes. Apartments take less heating and cooling than large homes, and today large houses are taken for granted. Big cities also often have public transportation systems. People bike more. Stores and restaurants are often within walking distance, and there are fewer lawns to irrigate.
It is also true that large cities often contain concentrations of lower income people. They don’t fly to Hawaii or Europe for vacations. They often don’t own cars, and they have fewer appliances that draw electricity.
Think about the development next to our farm. Large new houses have replaced farm fields. The inhabitants must drive everywhere for groceries or restaurants. I know–I drive four miles to get the paper copy of my New York Times.
What I don’t know is why Lehighton is greener than Palmerton, both towns located in Carbon County, PA. I do know that quite a few people walk to the drug stores or Mallard Market or Alfie’s Pizza. Maybe Lehighton inhabitants have less money to take vacations or purchase expensive energy wasting appliances. I’m guessing.
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