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Big win: League of California Cities disaster averted

The League of California Cities board of directors voted not to urge suspension or delay of the state's landmark climate change laws: AB 32 and SB 375.

On Earth Day, policy committees within the League brought before the board a motion to ask the state to delay deadlines stipulated in AB 32 and to suspend implementation of SB 375. Faced with opposition to the motion from board members, environmental groups, and concerned citizens however, the board voted down the motion and maintained its position of support for SB 375. The League has no official position on AB 32, but it rejected the motion to ask the state to delay some deadlines specified in the law.

Greenbelt Alliance joined with other Bay Area environmental groups and leaders to oppose the League's policy committees' suggestions. We are very pleased that the following Bay Area elected officials League board members spoke against the motion: Sepi Richardson (Brisbane), Jean Quan (Oakland), Jose Cisneros (San Francisco), Alice Fredericks (Tiburon), Dan Furtado (Campbell), and Joe Pirzynski (Los Gatos).

Beyond speaking out at the League board meeting, councilmember Quan penned an op-ed in support of the climate change laws in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Thank you to our own members who wrote to their representatives in support of our climate change laws.

Action Alert: Defend California’s landmark smart growth law

In 2008, California passed the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act (SB 375), which calls for smart land-use and transportation plans that give people more options for how to get around and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This Thursday, the League of California Cities will consider asking the state legislature to indefinitely suspend SB 375.

Take action! Contact your city council members and remind them that SB 375 not only helps the environment, but it will also save households money on transportation costs, save cities money on infrastructure costs, and make the Bay Area more competitive for limited state and federal funds. Urge your council member to oppose the League of Cities resolution before the committee vote Thursday and the final vote on April 23, 2010.

Campaigns

Climate Change and Land Use
AB 32 and SB 375

Given the increasing threat of global warming and climate change, the need to implement smart land use policies at the regional and state levels should be a recognized solution in combating negative climate change effects. Regional and state land use planning that focuses growth; creates more tight-knit, walkable communities; and includes development near transit stations and in downtowns leads to fewer car trips, which significantly reduces climate change pollution. Greenbelt Alliance is part of a statewide coalition called ClimatePlan, which finds effective land use solutions to climate change. Visit the ClimatePlan website to find out more.

In 2006, the California legislature passed AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, which requires California to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020. In December, the California Air Resources Board adopted its Scoping Plan for meeting our AB32 goals. The Scoping Plan includes regional land-use and transportation planning as a key strategy for curbing climate change.

In September, Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB 375, which identifies clear strategies to reduce emissions through housing and transportation planning decisions and funding mechanisms. Greenbelt Alliance is working regionally and locally to make sure that implementation of SB 375 here in the Bay Area makes our cities and towns better places to live and protects the greenbelt.

Funding for Livable Communities

Greenbelt Alliance is working closely with the Association of Bay Area Governments on a project called Focusing our Vision. As part of this effort, local governments and agencies have identified "Priority Development Areas" where well-planned development should occur. Good plans that will help the region accommodate growth sustainably should be rewarded with dollars to make those plans a reality.

That's where the Regional Transportation Plan comes in. This is the $100+ billion blueprint for how transportation funding will be spent in the Bay Area over the next 25 years. It is critically important that it steer precious transportation funds to areas with plans that protect open space, create walkable neighborhoods, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Greenbelt Alliance is working to make sure cities and counties that are planning for sustainable growth get the dollars they need.

Transportation for America

Greenbelt Alliance has joined with the Transportation for America campaign. Together, we are focused on bringing our economy into the 21st century with modern infrastructure, healthy communities, and a stronger national transportation program.

Congress and the new administration are debating a recovery plan to bolster our nation’s economy. Greenbelt Alliance and our allies believe a green recovery is possible through investment in modern rail and rapid bus lines; high-speed rail; and good land use, with streets that foster walking and biking. Our infrastructure investments should help to achieve the goals of reducing carbon emissions and oil dependence and supporting job creation. To learn more, visit www.t4america.org.

Creating Great Communities

Today, Bay Area residents have an opportunity to fundamentally shift the way the region grows. We can keep new development off open space and reinvest in existing city centers. We can build great communities with a variety of homes all residents can afford, close to parks, transportation, shopping and other necessities.

Greenbelt Alliance and several other Bay Area nonprofit organizations have together created the Great Communities Collaborative to make this a reality.

The Great Communities Collaborative recently released a report called Transit-Oriented for All: The Case for Mixed-Income Transit-Oriented Communities in the Bay Area. The report assesses the Bay Area’s potential for creating communities around transit stations that include homes for people with a diverse array of incomes, and outlines implementation tools.  Transit-Oriented for All was produced under the auspices of the Great Communities Collaborative, of which Greenbelt Alliance is a member, and was researched and written by Reconnecting America, UC Berkeley’s Center for Community Innovation, and the Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California.