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Sunday, April 18th, 2021

Three Cities Switching to Life-Affirming Economies

Author:     ChrisWinters
Source:     Yes! Magazine
Publication Date:     Spring 2021 (used 18 April 2021)
 Link: Three Cities Switching to Life-Affirming Economies
Stephan:   Here is some excellent good news. Some Blue state cities are beginning to understand why fostering wellbeing is the way to grow into the future. As time goes on the disparity between Red and Blue value districts, I think, is going to grow every greater, and that is going to become a factor in the internal migrations that will plague the nation. This same process is also going to play out around the world, as some cities do what is needed for them to deal with climate change and others do not until it is too late. Thirty years from now these migrations are going to define many cities and countries.

The city of Portland, Oregon, prides itself on being ahead of the curve. In 1993, it became the first U.S. city to adopt a climate action plan, which now calls for cutting carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, and to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Portland also has long been a leader in progressive urban planning strategies, and since 2006 has been a member of C40, an international network of cities seeking innovative ways to reduce emissions.

That’s why in 2013, as the city’s planners began to develop the 2015 update to the climate plan, they started working with a new model to calculate the city’s carbon emissions profile. Using the Stockholm Environment Institute’s model, the city could enumerate the emissions of the life cycle of 536 different products and commodities used in the Portland metropolitan area—everything from raw materials like timber and food crops, to manufactured items like office furniture and chocolate.

It made for an unpleasant surprise.

“We actually all of a sudden had all this data about the impact of consumption,” says Kyle Diesner, Climate Action Program […]

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