Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability 1

How Can Reducing CrimeHelp the Environment?Most people do not realize that reducingcrime can help improveenvironmental quality. CrimesCONNECTIONS such as robbery, assault, andshootings can have several harmfulenvironmental effects.It can drive people out of cities, which are ourmost energy-efficient living arrangements. Everybrick in an abandoned urban building represents anenergy waste equivalent to burning a 100-watt lightbulb for 12 hours. Each new suburb means replacingfarmland or reservoirs of natural biodiversity suchas forests with dispersed, energy- and resourcewastingroads, houses, and shopping centers.Crime can make people less willing to walk, bicycle,and use energy-efficient public transit systems.It also forces many people to use more energyto deter burglars. For example, trees and bushesnear a house help save energy by reducing solarheat gain in the summer and providing windbreaksin the winter. But to help reduce break-ins manyhomeowners clear away trees and bushes near theirhouses, as well as installing yard lights and leavingindoor lights, TVs, and radios on to deter burglars.The threat of crime also causes overpackagingof many items to deter shoplifting or poisoning offood or drug items.Critical ThinkingCan you think of any environmental benefits ofcertain types of crimes?world’s motor vehicle fleet to double while emittingless air pollution than today’s fleet.Vehicle emissions are not the only problem. Producingmotor vehicles and building roads, parkinglots, and garages use huge amounts of energy andmatter resources that produce pollution and environmentaldegradation. Also, motor vehicles take upspace and thus cause congestion as their numbersmultiply. More and more people could end up stuck intraffic jams in fuel-efficient and low-polluting cars goingnowhere.What Is the Role of Motor Vehiclesin the United States? Cars RulePassenger vehicles account for almost all U.S. urbantransportation and travel to work, and each yearAmericans drive as far as everyone else in the worldcombined.America showcases the advantages and disadvantagesof living in a society dominated by motor vehicles.With 4.6% of the world’s people, the United States hasalmost a third of the world’s motor vehicles. Abouttwo-thirds of the 225 million motor vehicles (excludingbig trucks and buses) in the United States are carsand the remainder are sport utility vehicles (SUVs),pickup trucks, and vans.Mostly because of urban sprawl and convenience,passenger vehicles are used for 98% of all urban transportationand 91% of travel to work in the UnitedStates. About three-fourths of all trips are less than 1.6kilometers (1 mile) from home. About 75% of Americansdrive alone to work, 5% commute on public transit,and 0.5% bicycle to work. Mostly because of urbansprawl and a network of highways, Americans driveabout 4 trillion kilometers (2.5 trillion miles) each year,about the same distance driven by all other drivers inthe world. Each year American vehicles consumeabout 43% of the world’s gasoline. According to theAmerican Public Transit System, if Americans doubledtheir use of mass transit from the current 5% to 10%, itwould reduce U.S. dependence on oil by 40%.Many governments in rapidly industrializingcountries such as China want to develop an automobile-centeredtransportation system. Suppose Chinasucceeds in having one or two cars in every garageand consumes oil at the U.S. rate. According to environmentalleader Lester R. Brown, China would thenneed slightly more oil each year than the world nowproduces and would have to pave an area equal to halfof the land it now uses to produce food.What Are the Advantages and Disadvantagesof Motor Vehicles? A Troubled LoveAffairMotor vehicles provide personal benefits and helprun economies, but they also kill lots of people,pollute the air, promote urban sprawl, and lead totime- and gas-wasting traffic jams.Motor vehicles have a number of important benefits.On a personal level, they provide mobility and are aconvenient and comfortable way to get from one placeto another. They also are symbols of power, sex, socialstatus, and success for many people. For some theyalso provide escape from an increasingly hectic world.From an economic standpoint, much of theworld’s economy is built on producing motor vehiclesand supplying roads, services, and repairs for them. Inthe United States, for example, $1 of every $4 spentand one of every six nonfarm jobs is connected to theautomobile. And five of the seven largest U.S. industrialfirms produce motor vehicles or their fuel.Despite their important benefits, motor vehicleshave many harmful effects on people and the environment.They have killed almost 18 million people since1885, when Karl Benz built the first automobile.Throughout the world they kill an estimated 1.2 millionpeople each year—an average of 3,300 deaths per572 CHAPTER 25 Sustainable Cities