The Energy-Efficient Big Apple

Take a walk on Brooklyn Bridge some evening and look at all the lights twinkling in the skyscrapers and apartment buildings of Manhattan. Besides being beautiful, you also have to wonder, how much energy is that wasting? The rush and glitter for which New York is famous must also have a terribly high energy cost, right?

Actually, no. Because of its extreme population density (almost 67,000 people per square mile in Manhattan, compared to the U.S. average of about 80), the city’s extensive public transportation network (nearly 60% of New Yorkers take mass transit to work), and its forward-thinking laws on energy conservation (New York spent $251 million in 1994 to help consumers switch to water-conserving toilets), New York is actually one of the most energy-efficient locales in the U.S.

New Yorkers use only about one-third of the gasoline of the average American, and one-half of the residential energy (not surprising to those of us familiar with the size of the average New York City apartment). New York has just .62 vehicles per household, while the rest of the country has 1.9. Water use had decreased steadily from 1979 from slightly more than 1.5 billion gallons per day (a stupefyingly high 189 gallons per capita per day) to about 1.1 billion gallons or 136.6 per capita in 2003.

So next time you are jostling your way to work on a crowded subway train, or listening to some smug politician talk about the superior values of the heartland, congratulate yourself on making New York one of the most responsible, energy-efficient cities in America.

Now turn off the faucet. --JESSICA STILLMAN

(Image from nicoze's flickr.)