NEW YORK (RNS) I, for one, believe that global climate change and its threat to humanity are real phenomena.
I also believe that our political systems are paralyzed — for now at least — by any challenge that can’t be resolved by blustery words. The days of grand projects like railroads, bridges and dams are on hiatus until partisan rancor subsides. Dealing with climate change, then, comes down to individual choices.
Whether that will be enough remains to be seen. But for now, it’s all we have: the willingness of individuals to live differently.
My family’s move to New York City gives me hope. When we moved here three years ago, it wasn’t to make an environmental statement. We moved here for the energy of the city and for business opportunities.
And yet we did make some decisions that substantially reduced our contributions to environmental distress. One was to declare our freedom from the automobile. Another was to leave behind a four-bedroom house and large lawn, whose maintenance took more time and money than I thought they deserved.
As it turns out, residents of New York City have a “carbon footprint” that is less than one-third of the national average. And it’s not just in the U.S. London’s per-person contribution to greenhouse gases is just over one-half the U.K. average. Barcelona’s is less than one-half of the average for all of Spain.
Dense, compact housing and public transportation make the difference. We live in an apartment that is one-third the size of our former house. We rarely need to turn on the heat. We never drive cars. We walk one to three miles a day and rely on subways for longer trips.
The environmental benefits are an unintended consequence of something we did for other reasons. I don’t feel particularly noble, as if I had embraced a cause. If anything, walking is a great joy, freedom from lawn maintenance is a relief, and occupying one-third as much space is relaxing.
I am finding that urban living makes sense in ways I hadn’t anticipated. I can see why life expectancy of New York City residents is 1 percent longer than the national average, and is increasing more rapidly.
I know full well that most people can’t easily change where they live, nor do they want to. I also know that Gotham isn’t for everyone. Other cities, smaller cities, suburbs, small towns and farms all have their claims on our hearts. Our jobs constrain mobility.
But I am emboldened by this move to believe that individual choices can make a difference. A decision to recycle, for example, matters. A decision to take public transportation wherever possible matters. While dense, compact housing hasn’t seemed necessary in cities capable of sprawling, it is a decision worth considering today.
Just as averting environmental catastrophe comes down to individual decisions, our own choices matter when we enter the arena of faith: a single life is worth saving, a single act of goodness is worth taking, a single sin is worth confessing, and a single person of faith can make a difference.
It does happen that way. My move to New York City is testimony — unintended to be sure, but encouraging nonetheless.
(Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the author of “Just Wondering, Jesus,” and the founder of the Church Wellness Project, http://www.churchwellness.com. His Web site is http://www.morningwalkmedia.com.)
