We Have New Leadership and a New Year—We Need New Housing, Too

This statement from RMI argues that reforming housing and zoning policies in the United States is a critical but overlooked component of climate strategy. The author contends that the current housing shortage and exclusionary zoning drive carbon emissions by forcing sprawl and auto-dependency, while simultaneously exacerbating economic and health inequities. The document calls for a shift toward infill, multi-family, and mixed-use development to reduce transportation emissions and improve affordability.

• The United States faces a significant housing shortage that increases costs for residents and disproportionately affects vulnerable populations. A Freddie Mac study estimated a nationwide shortage of more than 3.3 million units across 29 states, with some areas seeing extreme demand, such as the NYC Housing Connect System receiving 314 applications per unit between 2014 and 2019.
• Current housing policies and exclusionary zoning regulations contribute to climate change by promoting urban sprawl and increasing reliance on automobiles. Because housing is often built far from employment, healthcare, and education, it increases the miles driven and subsequent carbon emissions from transportation, which is the largest contributor to carbon emissions in the US.
• Exclusionary zoning—including single-family zoning, height restrictions, minimum parking and lot requirements, and bans on accessory dwelling units (ADUs)—prevents the development of low-carbon, location-efficient infill housing. In some cases, over 90 percent of city land cover is zoned as single-family, which the author argues produces economic, environmental, and social ills.
• The federal government could incentivize local zoning reform by linking funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to the implementation of comprehensive land use reforms that enable mixed-use and infill development.

APA

RMI (2021). We Have New Leadership and a New Year—We Need New Housing, Too. https://rmi.org/resources/we-have-new-leadership-and-a-new-year-we-need-new-housing-too/

Chicago

RMI. We Have New Leadership and a New Year—We Need New Housing, Too. 2021. https://rmi.org/resources/we-have-new-leadership-and-a-new-year-we-need-new-housing-too/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=RMI |title=We Have New Leadership and a New Year—We Need New Housing, Too |date=12 January 2021 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/we-have-new-leadership-and-a-new-year-we-need-new-housing-too/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{rmi2021have, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{We Have New Leadership and a New Year—We Need New Housing, Too}}, publisher = {RMI}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/we-have-new-leadership-and-a-new-year-we-need-new-housing-too/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }