The 15-minute climate solution that's spreading from Paris to ... - NPR
The 15-minute climate solution that's spreading from Paris to Cleveland : Up First : NPR
The Sunday Story: A 15-minute climate solution attracts conspiracies
Carlos Moreno, the Franco-Colombian urbanist, has been helping spread the idea of 15-minute cities — where people can access key things in their life within a short walk, bike ride or transit ride of their home. But the climate solution is seeing huge challenges, including conspiracy theories. Julia Simon hide caption
15-minute cities are an urban planning idea growing in popularity. The idea is that you can get to the key places in your life - think work, education, food, recreation - in a 15-minute walk, bike or transit ride. Now mayors from Paris to Cleveland are looking to use them to reduce planet-heating car pollution and improve quality of life.
But they face obstacles - from NIMBYs, to public schools, to death threats for urban planners and politicians. Reporter Julia Simon talks about her months-long reporting on a climate solution that has become a lightning rod for conspiracy theories. This reporting is a part of NPR's climate week.
Michael Brilliot, deputy director for citywide planning for San Jose, Calif., is building urban villages — with a mix of apartments and amenities nearby. He says it's the city's version of 15-minute cities. Most of San Jose is dominated by single-family neighborhoods that aren't so dense. Julia Simon/NPR hide caption
Michael Brilliot, deputy director for citywide planning for San Jose, Calif., is building urban villages — with a mix of apartments and amenities nearby. He says it's the city's version of 15-minute cities. Most of San Jose is dominated by single-family neighborhoods that aren't so dense. Julia Simon/NPR
This episode was produced by Andrew Mambo and edited by Jenny Schmidt and Neela Banerjee. Our engineer was Maggie Luthar.
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.