Houston, energy capital of the world, ranks 39th among the 50 largest US cities in the ability to cope with natural disaster or the economic pressures of-gasp-$100/bbl oil, says a recent study by SustainLane.com, formed in 2004 to promote healthy lifestyles and sustainable environmental planning.
SustainLane uses several criteria in ranking US cities, including such measurable factors as air quality, water quality, and housing affordability, as well as less-specific items such as “green economy,” climate-change policy, and “city innovation.” Houston lost points for traffic congestion; New York tops the 50 cities in terms of transportation because of its subways, which began service in 1904, “long before the automobile age.”
Heat and congestion
The study found 75% of Houstonians drive alone to work, while less than 2% walk or bike. But Houston’s average daily temperature range is 73-93° F. in July, with 55-93% humidity. The only way to make it “more walkable,” as SustainLane advocates, is to build air-conditioned tunnels-or move Houston to Denver (No. 9 on the list, 59-88° F., 34-67% humidity).
Located in one of the largest rice-growing areas of the world, Houston ranked 44th in agriculture and food production, “with only two farmer’s markets and 70 community gardens-unfortunate tallies for a city of about 2 million with a year-round growing climate,” said SustainLane.
No US city can feed itself if cut off from outside supplies. “But establishing a strong local food system is a hedge against complete dependence on food trucked in or flown in from South America and other far-flung locales,” said Warren Karlenzig, chief strategy officer for SustainLane.
That doesn’t quite explain Honolulu’s 15th place on the list, however, when even the sugar grown in Hawaii is processed in California before it’s shipped back to the islands.
Disaster risks
Houston is 43rd among the 50 cities in its risk for natural disaster, following a 2005 near miss by Hurricane Rita and predictions of a more active 10-20-year hurricane cycle. New Orleans was swamped by Hurricane Katrina, but it’s in 32nd place, ahead of Houston in the overall ratings, reflecting “pre-Katrina data.”
Even more odd, the US city rated by SustainLane as most self-sufficient in its ability to survive a crisis is Portland, Ore., located within ash-fall of Mount St. Helens and Mount Hood, two active volcanoes.
No. 2 is San Francisco, holder of the US “shake-and-bake” title for earthquakes and subsequent fires. San Francisco is on the western edge of the Long Valley Caldera where a strong earthquake “swarm” caused an uplift of the caldera floor in 1980 and began seismic activity that continues today. Sacramento, Calif., (13th) is in the caldron, as is Fresno (34th).
Third-place Seattle, Wash., sits at the foot of Mount Rainer, the biggest US volcano and one of the most dangerous in the Cascade Range. Like Houston, Seattle lacks a subway. But it is a national leader in its use of biodiesel fuel and ranks high in “green building.” All of its clean-air initiatives would be overwhelmed, however, in the instant of an eruption of Mount Rainer of the magnitude of the 1980 explosion of Mount St. Helens or the 1883 annihilation of Krakatoa in Indonesia.
Perhaps the annual odds of a hurricane hitting a particular city along thousands of miles of Gulf Coast can’t be compared with the centuries-long build-up of pressure leading to an earthquake or volcanic eruption. However, the likely course of a hurricane can be analyzed and reasonably forecast days in advance, while earthquakes and volcanoes are much less predictable.
The biggest mystery, however, is why Houston is thought unable to withstand high energy prices when it’s involved in producing that energy around the world. Although Houston’s economy has diversified since the 1970s boom, the oil and gas industry is still dominant. “A fossil fuel energy boomtown, Houston also performs relatively well in sustainability-related economic ventures,” the study acknowledged.
“Certain parts of Houston’s economy bloom with higher energy prices, but what impact does $3/gal gasoline have on the average working person not directly affiliated with the oil and gas industry?” Karlenzig asked. He sees energy dollars leaking out of Houston’s economy “to other nations such as Canada, Venezuela, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria.” However, others see the cash flowing from those and other countries back to the employees and shareholders of the many energy companies now concentrated in Houston.
