Study says remote work could cause drop in carbon emissions [Video]

Is remote work the answer to solving climate change? A new University of Florida study indicates that increasing remote work could reduce Americans’ carbon footprint. 

According to research published this week in Nature Cities, a 10% reduction in on-site workers from 2019 levels could cause an annual reduction of 191.8 million metric tons in CO2 emissions. 

The researchers, however, noted that a reduction in on-site work would cause a significant drop in public transit revenue. They said a 10% decline in on-site workers would cause transit systems to lose $3.7 billion nationally every year, a 27% drop.

Numerous studies have indicated that mass transit can help combat climate change given buses and trains are capable of carrying a large number of passengers. 

“Transit agencies need to be very concerned,” Shenhao Wang, a professor of urban planning at University of Florida who supervised the study, said in a press release. “Yet overall we would expect less energy consumption from …