Urban farming

Ed Glaeser throws cold water (or is it cold carbon) on urban farming, whose carbon cost, in terms of reduced density, likely well exceeds any gain due to reduced transport costs.

Says Ed:

Good environmentalism is smart environmentalism that thinks through the total systemic impacts of any change.

One is tempted to say that once the "thinks through" part has started, we have crossed the heavily guarded border between environmentalism and economics, but that would be a bit snarky so I won't say that.

Aside: I went to gradual school with Ed too. When you take 9 years to get a job and 11 years to finish (don't do this at home, trained professionals only) you overlap with a lot of people.

Via, amazingly, portside.org.