Copenhagen

Copenhagen was a fantastic choice as the site for the next round of climate change talks. It is as close to a correctly built city I can think of. If nothing else, this city should be used as a demonstration to Americans of exactly how wretched we've built our own cities here.

Some details of Copenhagen emerge -- nearly 36% of all trips are taken by bicycle, with a city goal of 50% by 2015. This wasn't always the case. In the 1960s Copenhagen was overrun by the automobile, as is the case for every American city, but leaders collectively agreed to change the urban fabric to accommodate bicycling, with immense opposition I might add. As Schwarzenegger pointed out in his comments, today Copenhagen is considered one of the world's most livable cities....and of course, because people want to live there, it's among the world's most expensive cities, too.

What stands out is that this city is nearly uniform in density -- medium density, with active storefronts at street level, with six to seven stories above, a uniform architecture to bind buildings together creating a sense of outdoor enclosure (that is, it makes people want to be there), with active and regular public transportation via electrified light rail, buses, and trains.

So I can't help but compare this against my fine little Elk Grovian burg, king of low-density auto-dependent sprawl, where nobody nobody! rides a bicycle to get anywhere, where light rail train service is a moving 20-year target, and where less than 5% of the population has ever boarded an e-Tran bus.

In my opinion, all of our green this and green that is really pointless unless we frame it around more livable places to live. The substitution of wind powered electric cars for the ICE doesn't address this fundamental flaw -- profligate American energy consumption because of how we live.