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Even as local officials in Southern California attack the question of how to implement SB 375, they have slyly begun to suggest that the bill isn't the best way to attack the problem it supposedly addresses – greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is not clear what the locals will do with this line of attack, unless they are angling to try to go back to the Legislature to shift the responsibility for GHG emissions reductions away from land use and back toward technological improvements.

The Southern California Association of Governments has unveiled a new "conceptual land use plan" that concentrates development on a half-million acres of land near rail, bus rapid transit, and local bus lines in the six-county SCAG region. Initial numbers suggest that this plan would only get SCAG 60% of the way toward the region's likely SB 375 emissions reduction target.

As Earth Day approached, I was concerned that I was kicking up a huge carbon footprint while I traveled all over the place helping people figure out how to reduce their carbon footprint.

Last Thursday, the often-nerdy Barack Obama erased all remaining doubt that he is positioning himself as America's "Planner In Chief".

The Petaluma City Council voted April 13 night to eliminate the city's planning staff because of a lack of development activity and a $4.5 million budget deficit.

Elimination of a planning department would be a remarkable turn of events anywhere in California, but the fact that this is occurring in Petaluma is downright shocking.

----------UPDATE----------

Read more about the Petaluma situation in this month's Local Watch story.

Our friends over at Planetizen are having too much fun today, which happens to be April 1.