Yesterday, I was reading a speech by the mayor of a major U.S. city about how, in the absence of federal action, he and fellow mayors must take action on climate change. So far, so good.

But when he described his own plans, he outlined a modest set of initiatives that overlooked the greenest actions mayors can take: eliminate the need for car trips by increasing density, mixing uses and providing real transit options.

It's great to see mayors promote green buildings and green roofs. But until or unless they change the everyday "blocking and tackling" decisions they make on planning, zoning, and transportation, their efforts will be incremental at best. And incremental progress just won't result in the progress we need to stop climate change.

A USA Today story last week reported that officials in drought-plagued Atlanta believe they can reduce water use by 13% by 2030. 2030! How convenient. Let's just hope Atlanta doesn't run out of water in the meantime.

Incremental change will not produce next generation cities. And next generation cities are what we must create to make ours a next generation nation. Will anything less suffice?

There are no comments for this entry.

Post a Comment

*Name:

E-mail Address:

URL:

*Comment:

Please type this word:

*required fields. your email address will not be published

Please leave the following field blank: