A City's Crash Diet

To successfully combat global warming, we need to cut carbon-dioxide emissions 80 percent by 2050--or 2 percent each year. How would that change our daily lives? Residents of Berkeley, California, may be the first to find out. The city, which passed a mandate late last year to make those necessary greenhouse-gas reductions, is already creating a blueprint for its carbon-lite future that includes free bus passes for every apartment dweller, a car-share vehicle parked on every block, and mandatory upgrades to household appliances and insulation. "I think people are looking for ways to lighten their footprint," Mayor Tom Bates told the San Francisco Chronicle. "People are willing to make these lifestyle changes, and the cumulative effort will add up. It's not rocket science. We can do this."

What would you change in your daily life to combat global warming? What wouldn't you be willing to give up?