At nearly twenty tons per person, American carbon dioxide emissions are among the highest in the world. Not every American fits this statistic, however. Across the country there are urban neighborhoods, suburbs, rural areas, and commercial institutions that have drastically lower carbon footprints. These exceptional places, as it turns out, are neither “poor” nor technologically advanced. Their low emissions are due to culture.
In The Five-Ton Life, Susan Subak uses previously untapped sources to discover and explore various low-carbon locations. In Washington DC, Chicago suburbs, lower Manhattan, and Amish settlements in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, she examines the built and social environment to discern the characteristics that contribute to lower greenhouse-gas emissions. The most decisive factors that decrease energy use are a commitment to small interiors and social cohesion, although each example exhibits its own dynamics and offers its own lessons for the rest of the country.
Bringing a fresh approach to the quandary of American household consumption, Subak’s groundbreaking research provides many pathways toward a future that is inspiring and rooted in America’s own traditions.
**
Review
“Susan Subak focuses on looking to the past for a way forward into the future. It is a very interesting way to approach climate change and I think it is unique.”—Brett Favaro, author of The Carbon Code: How You Can Become a Climate Change Hero
(Brett Favaro 2017-09-16)
“A wonderfully crafted book. While there are a zillion books produced on climate change, this book fills a crucial niche in terms of both content and style. Looking at cases of existing low carbon culture in the United States is very useful. It draws attention to various ways of living and conducting one’s life. It’s a great, very readable addition.”—Johannes Stripple, editor of Governing the Climate: New Approaches to Rationality, Power, and Politics
(Johannes Stripple 2017-09-16)
About the Author
Susan Subak has twenty years of experience as an environmental analyst studying the causes and consequences of climate change and as a contractor and researcher in the United States and Europe with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of East Anglia, and the Stockholm Environment Institute, among others. She is the author of  Rescue and Flight: American Relief Workers Who Defied the Nazis (Nebraska, 2010).
Science
Nature
Environmental Science
NAT011000 Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection
Environmental Conservation & Protection
Cover 1
Title Page 4
Copyright Page 5
Contents 6
List of Illustrations 7
List of Tables 8
Introduction 12
1. Founding Mitigator 34
2. Carbon Dissenters 70
3. Urban Families 100
4. The Greenest Suburb 132
5. College, Commercial Carbon 164
6. Becoming Five Tons 198
Acknowledgments 220
Notes 222
Bibliography 252
Index 264

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motw/The Five-Ton Life_ Carbon, Amer - Susan Subak.pdf

9780803296886.pdf

Subak, Susan;

gcastro3

Bison Books

United States, United States of America

Illustrated, PS, 2018

Aug 01, 2018

producers:
Acrobat Distiller 18.0 (Windows)

Memory of the World Librarian: Calamitous Annunciation

Source title: The Five-Ton Life: Carbon, America, and the Culture That May Save Us (Our Sustainable Future)

At nearly twenty tons per person, American carbon dioxide emissions are among the highest in the world. Not every American fits this statistic, however. Across the country, there are urban neighborhoods, suburbs, rural areas, and commercial institutions that have drastically lower carbon footprints. These exceptional places, as it turns out, are neither poor nor technologically advanced. Their low emissions are due to culture.
In The Five-Ton Life, Susan Subak uses previously untapped sources to discover and explore various low-carbon locations. In Washington DC, Chicago suburbs, lower Manhattan, and Amish settlements in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, she examines the built and social environment to discern the characteristics that contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The most decisive factors that decrease energy use are a commitment to small interiors and social cohesion, although each example exhibits its own dynamics and offers its own lessons for the rest of the country.
Bringing a fresh approach to the quandary of American household consumption, Subaks groundbreaking research provides many pathways toward a future that is inspiringand rooted in Americas own traditions.

Uses previously untapped sources to discover and explore various low-carbon locations. In Washington DC, Chicago suburbs, lower Manhattan, and Amish settlements in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Susan Subak examines the built and social environment to discern the characteristics that contribute to lower greenhouse-gas emissions.

"Susan Subak explores various low-carbon locations across America, calculating and comparing emissions data to understand what unites these different types of American neighborhoods, as well as what sets them apart, and how we can use this information to work towards a lower-carbon future" ..

2025-10-27