A recent National Academy of Sciences report calls for a shift to compact
development to reduce carbon emissions.42 The report states that if 75 percent
of new development were built at twice the current density norms, vehicle-miles
traveled would drop 25 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent by
2050. A report by the Brookings Institution backed up these findings with an
analysis of the carbon footprint of metropolitan America compared to the
nation as a whole. The study reported the following conclusions