Common Dreams: SUVs without wheels

"How much house can the planet afford?"

In Common Dreams, Stan Cox reports that construction of homes of 3,000 square feet or more continues to grow, even as family sizes continue to shrink.

Aesthetics aside, these homes generate tons of carbon dioxide in their manufacture and materials transportation, cause damage to ecosystems by requiring massive amounts of lumber, and require huge amounts of energy to heat and cool.

Even "eco-fitting" a 3,000-square-foot house doesn't necessarily make it eco-friendly - a 2005 analysis in the Journal of Industrial Ecology concluded that one of these homes, even if rated as super-efficient, consumes 50 percent more energy that a 1,500-square-foot house built only to mediocre energy standards.

Cox compares these super-sized homes to SUVs: Though sales of SUVs have ebbed, millions will remain in use for years to come.