NEWS FROM THE WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE
NEWS ADVISORY FROM THE WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE
Embargo: June 28, 2001, 2PM EDT

June 20, 2001

Sprawling urban areas are
helping to make road transportation the fastest growing source of the
carbon emissions warming the earth's atmosphere.

"Wind turbines, energy-efficient cars, and other new
technologies have received much attention in recent debates over energy
policy, but we've been neglecting the role that urban design can play in
stabilizing the climate," said Molly O'Meara Sheehan, author of City
Limits: Putting the Brakes on Sprawl. "Local concerns like clogged
roads, dirty air, and deteriorating neighborhoods are already fueling a
backlash against sprawl. Understanding the role of sprawl in climate
change should only speed up the shift towards more parks and less
parking lots. We can have healthier, more livable cities and protect the
planet from climate change too."

The United States has the world's most car-reliant cities. U.S. drivers
consume roughly 43 percent of the world's gasoline to propel less than 5
percent of the world's population. By the end of the decade, the
majority of the world's people will live in urban areas. The urban
design decisions made today, especially in cities in the developing
world where car use is still low, will have an enormous impact on global
warming in the decades ahead. Adoption of the U.S. car-centered model,
especially in cities where car use is still low, would have disastrous
consequences.

Thirty years from now, for example, China, excluding Hong Kong, is
expected to have 752 million urban dwellers. If each were to copy the
transportation habits of the average resident of the San Francisco area
in 1990, the carbon emissions from transportation in urban China alone
could exceed 1 billion tons, roughly as much carbon as released in 1998
from all road transportation worldwide.

Sheehan highlights cities that have already proved that a strategy of
de-emphasizing cars and providing public transit instead can work. One
outstanding example is the city of Curitiba, Brazil. Starting in 1972,
Curitiba built a system of dedicated busways and zoned for
higher-density development along those thoroughfares - and is now
enjoying better air quality and more parks for its 2.5 million people.
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WHO: Molly O'Meara Sheehan, Senior Researcher

WHAT: Worldwatch Paper 156: City Limits: Putting the
Brakes on Sprawl

WHERE: WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE, 1776 Massachusetts Ave. NW,
Washington, D.C.

WHEN: Thursday, June 28, 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT (lunch 12-1
PM; briefing 1-2 PM)

EMBARGO: Thursday, June 28, 2001, 2:00 PM EDT

CONTACT: Leanne Mitchell, (202) 452-1992 Ext. 527

RSVP: Niki Clark, (202) 452-1992 Ext. 517

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