Local Warming

A carbon dioxide wake-up call for the Washington region

JUST HOW MUCH does the Washington region contribute to America's greenhouse gas problem? A recent Post investigation indicates that it's hard to tell -- authoritative numbers on the area's net carbon emissions don't exist yet. But the Post analysis also indicates that emissions from two major sources of greenhouse gases have increased at an alarming rate in the Washington area -- and can be expected to continue doing so unless local authorities find ways to cut back.

The Post's David A. Fahrenthold used public records to calculate the increase in carbon dioxide output attributable to motor vehicle pollution and energy consumption in the Washington region between 2001 and 2005. These emissions shot up 13.4 percent, more than twice the national average. The biggest increase was in the Virginia suburbs, where emissions swelled 18.8 percent. Indicators are particularly bad for fast-growing and pedestrian-unfriendly jurisdictions, from which commuters often drive long distances to other areas and where new homes eat up electricity. Tailpipe emissions from Loudoun County, for example, increased by about 43 percent. The increase is greater than you'd expect simply from the region's rapid growth, and it reinforces the fact that such growth has costs for which the price of new homes does not fully account. Policymakers fret most over the cost of roads, schools and parks that new residents require as vacant land is subdivided into single-family homes. But higher emissions, both of the pollutants that produce low-hanging smog and of those that cause the greenhouse effect higher in the atmosphere, also are a cost.

The most rational way to account for such costs would be a comprehensive federal response, such as a carbon tax, a cap-and-trade program or some combination of the two. But local governments, too, can help cut greenhouse emissions. The District and others, for example, now demand that large new buildings meet "green" energy efficiency standards. Fairfax County's "cool counties" initiative includes wide-scale efficiency improvements. New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has embarked on an aggressive, long-term campaign to drastically reduce his city's carbon "footprint," using everything from public transportation to better building codes to congestion pricing for drivers. The Washington region's Council of Governments is just beginning to look closely at the issue, but we hope for a similarly ambitious plan for the national capital region.