Climate change
MPOs, ARB Hone In On SB 375 Emissions Targets
Submitted by jstephens on 10 July 2010 - 7:44amAs national debates about climate change have raged and federal action has grown ever more unlikely in the shadow of -- take your pick -- economic woes, mid-term election jitters, and the blackening of the Gulf of Mexico, the State of California last week edged closer to implementing its own land use based program to curtail climate change. Per a June 30 deadline stipulated in Senate Bill 375, the staff of the California Air Resources Board (ARB) released its draft regional targets for carbon emissions reductions.
The targets are based on what participants have said is an extraordinarily sophisticated scenario planning and modeling.
SB 375 and AB 32 Math Doesn’t Add Up
Submitted by jstephens on 7 July 2010 - 10:49pmNow that the California Air Resources Board has released its draft targets for greenhouse gas emissions reduction under SB 375, it’s time to do some math. What follows is nerdy and a little dense, but it’s important – and planners need to be able to follow the bouncing ball on 375.
The bottom line is that the math doesn’t yet add up – and that’s because what AB 32 calls for and what California’s regional planning agencies think is realistic don’t line up with each other.
Loss of Redevelopments Funds Hinders SB 375
Submitted by jstephens on 19 June 2010 - 9:22amRedevelopment agencies in California are often asked to carry a heavy load: fighting blight, promoting economic development, transforming brownfields, and creating communities. Now add to that list the modest task of combating global climate change – at the very moment when they have fewer funds than they have had in decades.
Senate Bill 375 seeks to reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions through the coordination of land use and transportation planning. But the state’s most recent $2 billion raid on redevelopment funds is merely the latest shift of funds away from redevelopment agencies, many of which were already coping with lean budgets.
The Promise, and Perils, of Alignment
Submitted by jstephens on 18 June 2010 - 9:31amA couple of weeks ago, Shelley Poticha, the Obama Administration’s point person on smart growth, gave a high-profile talk to a big Urban Land Institute crowd in Los Angeles. Her message, plain and simple, was that it’s time for what she called “alignment.”
Transit Woes Threaten to Undercut Regional Sustainability Plans
Submitted by jstephens on 7 June 2010 - 3:38pmTo supporters, the wisdom of Senate Bill 375, the 2008 law that promotes emissions reductions through coordination of transportation and land use, lies in its holistic approach to planning and its kitting together of disparate elements of the urban fabric. But, in light of budget crises at all level of government, one piece that is essential to SB 375’s success is rapidly coming off the rails: money to run buses and trains
Court Rules Against Refinery in First-Ever Greenhouse Gas Decision
Submitted by jstephens on 19 May 2010 - 7:51pmIn the first-ever appellate court decision regarding the California Environmental Quality Act and climate change, the First District Court of Appeal has held that the future development of a plan for greenhouse gas mitigation constituted improperly deferred mitigation. For that reason and others, the court ruled the environmental impact report for an oil refinery project was invalid.
AB 32 Backlash Clouds Future of Smart Growth
Submitted by jstephens on 19 April 2010 - 8:32pmNot long ago, when California's economy was booming and concerns about rising seas were mounting, California tapped into its environmentalist traditions to pass popular laws that promised to lead the nation in greenhouse gas mitigation. While there are no sure signs that the global climate has cooled, the same cannot be said for the state's support of anti-climate change legislation.
Climate Change Adaptation Recommendations Result In Same Old Fight
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 9 November 2009 - 3:51pmIf predictions about the impact of global warming are even half right, a lot of us are going to be quite literally swimming – or at least wading – through our daily lives in 30 or 40 years. Yet in the current debate about how the state should approach “adaptation” strategies, all parties are crouched in their typically unhelpful postures.
Panel Urges More Work Before Regional GHG Targets Set
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 7 October 2009 - 11:12amA committee of experts appointed by the California Air Resources Board should come up with a list of best management practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by new development by January 2010. The practices, combined with estimates of future transportation demand, should provide the basis for the board to establish regional targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions later in 2010, according to the advisory committee.
Regions May Get More Climate Mandates, But Little Funding
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 7 October 2009 - 11:08amSometime this year or next year, Congress will probably pass a climate change bill that tries to mimic SB 375’s link between transportation patterns and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And the bill will probably generate billions of dollars by capping emissions and placing a market value on them. But it is doubtful Congress use the money to invest in the transportation improvements and land use changes required to reduce automobile travel.