New York City is a politically progressive city and many people here truly want to do the right thing about global warming. At the same time, New Yorkers are notoriously pragmatic and they don't just want feel-good or impractical ideas thrust upon them. In a way New Yorkers are your savvy environmentalists. Plus, as I've explained before, NYC is a fairly energy efficient place already, just by virtue of our smaller living spaces in multiunit buildings and heavy reliance on mass transit instead of automobiles.

That's why I wasn't surprised to see in a recent poll that New Yorkers are somewhat ahead of the country on several Peak oil awareness measures, including having "heard of or read about the US Energy Crisis" and believing that it is "very serious" and they overwhelmingly believe it is "likely their city or town will face a serious critical energy crisis in the next five years".