Planning in the Climate Bill
Elana Schor has a helpful roundup of a recent Brookings event on improving federal support for Metropolitan Planning Organizations and, even more important, improving the extent to which the federal relationship with MPOs actually supports good planning. This is an important element of dealing with the climate issue. The built environment evolves slowly over time so it’s difficult to get large short-term emissions reductions through better land use, but by the same token it’s absolutely essential to meeting long-term targets in an economically viable way.
Michael McKeever, executive director of the SACOG, and Peter McLaughlin, a commissioner of Minnesota’s Hennepin County, agreed that the upcoming congressional climate change bill is essential to achieving land use reform.
If the climate bill “does some fairly simple things and requires … high quality [MPO planning] to be done as a pre-condition of getting federal funds,” local development can become a more transparent and rational process, McKeever said.
Legislators, recognizing this, included language to that effect in the original Waxman-Markey bill. But it wound up getting stripped out. Now it’s back in the Kerry-Boxer draft, but the U.S. Senate is generally less friendly than the House to sound urban planning and land use policy so one should be nervous that it will be removed again. However, with these kind of relatively low-profile issues things like preference intensity make a great deal of difference. If Senators get word that their offices are being contacted by people who are interested in something as obscure as MPO planning, that would get noticed. Of course as a DC resident I’m not allowed to be represented in the governing bodies of the United States of America so I can’t contact anyone.
9 Responses to “Planning in the Climate Bill”
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October 14th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Don’t be so dramatic- you can always contact your nominal representative for the District who doesn’t actually have any voting power!
October 14th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Hey! So Matthew does know about MPOs!
October 14th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
He knows about MPOs when it is convenient.
BTW, I assume Matthew saw the story in the NY Times today about making 42nd Street pedestrian only, with a light rail from river to river? Seems right up his alley.
October 14th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Wow – an Yglesias post on planning that acknowledges MPOs and COGs. Maybe our children is learning after all
October 14th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Well, the Russians have another idea on global warming, Nuclear First Strike.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4323966&c=EUR&s=TOP
It seems that, despite all the hopes of the Obambots, the Russians want to make first strike the policy of the year. Happy Nuclear Winter.
October 14th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
i would say beltway insiders are quite well represented in Senate & House as it is.
October 15th, 2009 at 6:21 am
MY “Of course as a DC resident I’m not allowed to be represented in the governing bodies of the United States of America so I can’t contact anyone.”
A man without a country. It has a certain romantic appeal. But not for you. You need the policy nitty gritty. I see you ending up in Canada -Vancouver, I think- when there is nothing left to blog about here.
There is good blogging in Canada I hear. You’ll be happy there.
October 15th, 2009 at 7:25 am
5 Mike K: “Well, the Russians have another idea on global warming, Nuclear First Strike.”
It had to come. I’m surprise it didn’t come sooner, but I think the Russian were in state of shock. The Russians have no choice. They must escalate. The United States has threatened them with annihilation.
The United States informed the Russians of their own first strike intentions two weeks ago. The US did so openly and honestly, announcing that it will shortly have enough anti-ballistic missiles -in place- to knock out the Russian’s entire ICBM force shortly after their missiles leave their silos, and certainly before the Russian’s antiquated missiles go ballistic, and nose cones open.
The Russians must counter. They will soon be in the worst position relative to the United States than they have been in since 1948, or the year before they acquired the bomb.
The problem is, the Russians have no way to counter the United States own unbelievably aggressive first strike announcement, other than to launch a first strike themselves before we finalize our plans, or, HOPEFULLY, continually threaten a first strike over the next two or three years, with the intention of forcing us to pull back on our plans to surround their country with hunter/killer missiles.
Obama, whether he chose this position or not, I suspect not, is about to engage in the greatest rounds of escalating brinkmanship in the history of mankind. It is going to get interesting. These consecutive announcements, one by us, one by them, make the Cuban Missile Crisis look like a friendly game of darts -stakes, loser buys a beer.
And one more thing. You must add China to the equation. If Obama does not pull back, or Russia does not completely capitulate, Russia and America will quickly head toward Defcon 1. There is no other possible scenario. China can play it two ways. They can seek to broker a new MAD type stalemate by using their financial leverage over the United States to force the US to draw down. Or, they can join in, and escalate themselves.
October 15th, 2009 at 11:25 am
With the 7 and the S, wouldn’t a light rail on 42nd street be (doubly) redundant? If it wouldn’t be, then that would be because it would have stops on the east and west sides, in which case you could just make a new station on the 7 at 2nd Ave and then extend it westward to 10th St. and maybe the Javits Center.