Climate
Center for Neighborhood Technology has been conducting research and developing and testing innovative programs to use urban resources more efficiently for almost 30 years. These efforts inevitably relate to the growing concerns about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and slowing global warming.
CNT’s research has shown that cities can be the most efficient places to live, with their lower per capita greenhouse gas emissions due to efficient land use and transportation alternatives. Because urban areas are compact and have extensive mass transit and communication networks, they offer the greatest opportunities to help solve the climate crisis by expanding and enhancing their existing strategies for reducing carbon emissions.
Some key facts:
- U.S. public transit riders save over 7 million tons of CO2 each year,
- Households near transit systems own roughly one fewer car than the average household,
- Replacing old and inefficient appliances, such as window air conditioners and refrigerators, can save households money and reduce electricity demands.
Learn more about our research and steps you can take to help improve the environment by checking out our current projects at right.
Monday, May 26th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Chicago is not the only city considering the value of multi-modal transport in an urban environment. New research is coming out that agrees with and builds on what CNT advocates: eliminating auto dependency is a key to cleaner, less congested and more livable cities.
WorldChanging editor Alex Steffen recently wrote in BusinessWeek that cities are “a smart alternative to cars”, and that the key to reducing emissions lies not in new auto technology, but in cities that eliminate the need to be constantly driving.
The fundamental issue is an overdependence on vehicles to get from here to there, resulting in the nation’s increasing congestion problems and rising greenhouse gas emissions. This paradigm means that efforts at making vehicles more fuel efficient—while important because vehicles cannot be eliminated—does not properly focus on the solution of reducing vehicle dependency altogether. As Mr. Steffen puts it, “The best car-related innovation we have is not to improve the car but to eliminate the need to drive it everywhere we go.”
After all, as one sits in congestion, amongst a seemingly infinite amount of vehicles, on a finite amount of space, is the point to be wasting time in a car that gets better fuel efficiency? Or can we delve deeper into solutions—reducing the use of cars, whenever possible? The new issue of the Chicago Reporter, “Jammed” looks at the driving habits of Chicagoland residents. And it becomes clear that the region is “at capacity” for more people and more cars at farther and longer trips, which is the direction the region is headed. With some commuters spending 20 hours a week just driving to and from their jobs; others spending hundreds on gas each week, it seems the problem cannot be solved in the car.
In 2007, rides on the Regional Transportation Authority system—which includes the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace—made up just 5.6 percent of all trips taken in the six-county Chicago region, according to a study by Chicago Metropolis 2020. Some advocates say the figure needs to be more than twice that in order to sustain the region long-term. It seems the most important fixes are to build off of the increasing trend of using alternate ways to get around, while also focusing on making that shift easier by developing or redeveloping, using infill development and infrastructure investments to transform existing medium-low density neighborhoods into walkable compact communities.
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Thursday, January 24th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
The Presidential Climate Action Project (PCAP) delivered the State of the Climate paper to the White House this morning with a very impressive list of signatories. The list includes two Nobel Laureates, a number of the nation’s top climate scientists and policy experts, mayors, and business leaders. CNT’s President and member of the PCAP Steering Committee Scott Bernstein is one of the signatories.
PCAP is encouraging President George Bush to consider the assessment of climate change and policy as he prepares his State of the Union address on Monday, January 28, 2008. In releasing the report, PCAP regret[s] to report that the state of the nation’s climate policy is poor, and the climate and the ecosystems that depend upon it are showing increasing signs of disruption. Global climate change now threatens not only the environment, but also our national security, our economic stability, and our public health and safety. We can longer discuss the State of the Union without addressing the state of the nation’s climate.
CNT contributed to the Presidential Climate Action Plan that contains more than 300 proposals for new federal policies and programs to address climate change. Our research on transportation and climate found that reducing motorized trips is as important as cleaner cars: a 1% annual reduction in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduces roughly as much carbon as a 4% annual improvement in fuel efficiency. When we reduce our carbon by VMT reduction, it results in large cost of living savings for America’s families.
While the Presidential Climate Action Plan frames the agenda for the first 100 days of the next Administration, it is a resource that the current Administration could use to move the federal government into leadership domestically, and the United States into leadership internationally, on this urgent issue.
To read the final statement and add you name to the current signature list, go to the PCAP web site at http://www.climateactionproject.com/soc.php.
For information about the Presidential Climate Action Plan, read the full report here.
For more information on CNT’s Climate Program, visit www.cnt.org/climate.
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Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 at 11:57 am
CNT is pleased to announce the release of the Presidential Climate Action Plan (PCAP), a plan to help the next President of the United States take bold action on global warming within the first 100 days of the new administration. Developed by a broad group of leaders from around the nation, the PCAP is the most comprehensive and detailed plan for national climate action yet presented to the presidential candidates and the American people. It consists of more than 100 proposed policies and programs covering more than a dozen critical areas of endeavor. More broadly, PCAP identifies how the 44th President and the Congress can help America find its path to a 21st Century economy that achieves three critical objectives: security, opportunity and stewardship.
CNT was part of the group of experts that developed the plan over the past year. CNT’s research and expertise in transportation, land use, and climate change forms the basis for much of the plan’s transportation agenda. In addition, CNT President Scott Bernstein serves on the Steering Committee of the Presidential Climate Action Project, bringing CNT’s deep understanding of sustainable, measurable, place-based solutions with net economic benefits to this monumental project. We look forward to working with leaders and residents around the country in collaboration with the Presidential Climate Action Project to gain widespread support for this plan in coming months and to put this plan into action.
For more information about the plan read the full report here.
Or visit the Presidential Climate Action Project’s website for more information.
The project team is inviting public input on PCAP at www.helium.com and will consider suggestions as it finalizes the plan. You can also send comments and ideas for climate leadership to feedback@climateactionproject.com.
For more information on CNT’s Climate Program, visit www.cnt.org/climate.
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