Could the leading U.S. city in the fight against climate change be Austin Texas? The City of Austin, population approx 750,000 and metro area of 1.8 million, plans to be carbon neutral by 2020: that means government facilities, vehicles and operations.
Look out New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and all you others…here comes Austin!
PlaNYC is a comprehensive strategy to reduce New York City’s greenhouse gas footprint, while accommodating a population growth of nearly one million, and improving its infrastructure and environment. In short, they aim to be “greenest big city in the world.”
They aren’t yet aiming for carbon neutrality, but what they’ve acomplished in just three years should light a fire under every city in North America to commit to their own, aggresive plan for sustainable, prosperous, high-quality living!
With a call to use less and live better, Vancouver has laid down the challenge to become what they call the “greenest city in the world” by 2020.
They are laying down an international challenge for other cities to compete with them for the “greenest city” title.
Seattle is poised to lead the race to create a new urban way of life, but can it overcome the obstacles it will face along the way? Will a competitor city, like Portland, San Francisco, Austin, New York, or Vancouver get to the finish line first? And whichever city first claims the Carbon Neutral title, will it happen soon enough to make a difference?
Why create a carbon neutral city? The short story is that carbon emitted into the atmosphere by human activities is jeopardizing the ability for people and other living things to live and thrive on the planet. With over (more…)
