Angus Duncan gets it right
I want to thank Angus Duncan for his OpEd in the Oregonian strongly supporting my efforts to pass a revolutionary approach to transportation investment in the region. Angus is Executive Director of the Bonneville Environment Foundation and Chair of the Oregon Commission on Global Warming. I’ve worked with Angus for years and I greatly respect his ability to frame issues and provide a way forward through some pretty sticky situations.
And that’s where we find ourselves as we plan for a growing population and economy while pushing to reduce carbon emissions at the same time. Angus writes:
The [RTP] has been analyzed by Metro’s staff for what it would contribute, or save, in future greenhouse gas emissions. The result: 49 percent higher emissions than current levels, at a time when that trend line needs to be pointing sharply downward.
Why is this occasion for commendation?
Because Metro is actually examining the emissions consequences of its planning decisions, and taking the results seriously, when many metropolitan areas in the country are wringing their hands over climate change but not reflecting it in the plans they table.
Results like Metro’s force real choices to the surface, as the organization’s leaders understood when they authorized the analysis.
That’s exactly right. But Metro’s Regional Transportation Plan isn’t just a warning about emissions. It includes the highest levels of investment ever in transit as well as bicycling and walking. It also supports better use of the land we have in the urban growth boundary. We figure that this will actually reduce per capita emissions, but we’ll have to make bigger changes in how we get around and how we live if we are to get reductions in total emissions, as Angus points out. Changes like cars using new types of fuels, zoning to create walkable neighborhoods, weatherizing our homes and changing our lightbulbs — just a few of many forward-thinking strategies I plan to spearhead as Metro Council President.
The new Regional Transportation Plan is radically different in other ways. For example, it targets almost $700 million in public funds to improve the economy, clean the environment, improve the health of our families and make our communities safer. Check it out!