New Yorker writer David Owen's new book Green Metropolis posits that density is the single most important factor in determining how "green" a city is. By that measure, Manhattan has Portland and other so-called eco-friendly cities beat—a fact Owen cheerfully points out in the book's introduction. And while the "in yo' FACE, Portland!" drum-beating of the book's intro feels like overkill for what is fundamentally a very straightforward premise (more density=fewer cars=less reliance on dwindling fossil fuel reserves), the bulk of Green Metropolis is a methodical argument for why lobbying for dense, mixed-used neighborhoods is a better use of one's time than devising solutions like solar panels and electric cars:

"The real problem with cars is not that they don't get enough miles to the gallon. It's that they make it too easy for people to spread out, encouraging forms of development that are inherently wasteful and damaging. Most so-called environmental initiatives concerning automobiles are actually counterproductive, because their effect is to make driving less expensive (by reducing the need for fuel) and to make car travel more agreeable (by eliminating congestion). What we really need, from the point of view of both energy conservation and environmental protection, is to make driving costlier and less pleasant."

Owen seems to take some satisfaction in tipping the sacred cows of the environmental movement—telling us to in effect get over the idea that any car-based lifestyle is an environmentally responsible one. Driving all the way out to Sauvie to buy local peaches? Owen would tell you to save the gas and go to Fred Meyer. (And hippies who flee the city to live in the country only drag sprawl along with them, he says.) He's also a big fan of providing disincentives to drivers, arguing that it's better to have fewer cars idling in traffic jams than to add an extra lane and encourage more commuters to drive.

Tonight Owen appears at Powell's City of Books, at 7:30 pm, in conversation with Ethan Seltzer, director of PSU's School of Urban Studies and Planning (the event is co-sponsored by Portland Spaces and the City Club of Portland). I'm looking forward to it—I found Owen's book very persuasive, but I'm hoping to hear some different perspectives tonight.