foundation. We had a tiny budget and oversized ambitions, so we sent out appeals inviting students and scholars from around the world to become research fellows. We were inundated with responses from some of the finest women and men in science and public policy. Today, the Drawdown fellows comprise seventy individuals from twenty-two countries. Forty percent are women, nearly half have PhDs, and others have at least one advanced degree.
We err on the side of being conservative. That means assuming costs associated with the solution that are on the high end, and then keeping them relatively constant from 2020 to 2050.
The use and sustainability of transportation cannot be separated from how and where people live, work, and play; two major influences going forward will be the design of the urban environment and reduction of excess consumption.
Jaime Lerner became mayor of the city, appointed by Brazil’s then-dictatorship under the mistaken assumption that he would toe the authoritarian line. Of course, creatives rarely do. Subways and light rail were popular among city planners at the time, but Lerner saw that implementing any system based on rail would be too expensive and slow. (He is famous for saying, “If you want creativity, cut one zero from the budget. If you want sustainability, cut two zeros!”)
attractive. One key piece is making the use of multiple modes more seamless, such as a single card to pay for metro, bus, bike share, and rideshare, or a single smartphone app to plan trips that use more than one.