California aims for greener growth
LOS ANGELES - California is poised to pass the first law in the nation linking greenhouse gas emissions to urban planning, a departure from the growth approach that spawned the state's car culture and urban sprawl.
The measure aims to give high-density centers where people live, work, and shop top priority in receiving local, state, and federal transportation funds. The idea is that such developments check sprawl and ease commutes, in turn cutting the air pollution.
Authored by Senator Darrell Steinberg, Democrat of Sacramento, the bill reflects California's push to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020. Sponsors say the measure is part of a much-needed growth policy for California, where the population is expected to swell to 50 million from the current 38 million in two decades.
"Many places across the country have realized that if you just build spread-out developments, with the expectation that everyone will have to drive for everything, it should be no surprise when the result is excessive burning of gasoline," said David Goldberg, spokesman for Smart Growth America, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group that helps cities and towns plan more workable, environmentally friendly growth.
Goldberg said the California bill breaks new ground because it specifically links development policies with the need to address climate change. The bill applies to both new and existing high-density projects.
Two years of intense negotiations have satisfied several critics of the bill and galvanized support from an unusual alliance of environmentalists, home builders, local governments, and affordable-housing advocates.
But other home builders and several business groups are among the bill's opponents. They say it adds a new layer to an already complicated approval process, opens projects up to delays and frivolous litigation, and could threaten the state's economy.
"It will hamper or completely stop infrastructure throughout the state. It will jeopardize buildings, the transfer of goods and services," said Tom Holsman, chief executive of the Associated General Contractors of California. The group is joined by the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Grocers Association, and the California Retailers Association in opposing the bill.
"Basically, you're looking at all of California's economy, not just the housing industry," Holsman said. He added that despite the association's opposition to the bill, it supports Steinberg's environmental goals.
The state Legislature recently approved the measure, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who aims to make California a trendsetter in fighting global warming, is expected to sign it into law once the state balances its long-overdue budget.
If he does, the state's Air Resources Board will set emission-reduction targets for 17 major metropolitan planning organizations responsible for housing and transportation projects.
Steinberg said those who veer from the targets won't be penalized, but that by 2012 transportation subsidies will almost entirely go to projects that comply - an incentive he called a "hard carrot." 