Rex for Metro

On Sightline, Roger Valdez logs a thoughtful post in which he “calls me out” about sustainability and the Columbia River Crossing project — the seismic, bike/ped, light rail and tolling components of which I’ve long supported. Roger believes that the project has to be based on political expediency, because “the best policy option would lead to reduced greenhouse gas emissions, better land-use, and healthier communities.”

Reasonable enough. So let’s take this thing apart and see what’s really going on — not in the easy buzzwords lobbed from the sidelines by my opponent, but in actual, real-world, roll-up-your-sleeves-and-work-with-others policy.

First, though, I need to add something to Roger’s list that he’s forgotten: safety. The existing 93 year old span is in dangerous condition (the other is 60 years old and also deteriorating) and environmentally harmful. Putting the region’s people and economy at risk is a failure to acknowledge physical reality–that steel rusts, concrete deteriorates, and the earth quakes. Even my opponent has acknowledged (somewhat grudgingly, I have to say) that the bridges need to be fixed.

The question is, then, how to turn an onerous responsibility -– replacing an expensive piece of critical equipment — into an opportunity. I worked 5 years to ensure this project will provide real transportation alternatives, use tolls to reduce traffic demand and move traffic quickly, and reduce impact on the environment and surrounding communities. The proposal adopted by the Task Force, the Metro Council and the Portland City Council does this. And, compared to doing nothing, reduces pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and encourages denser, more compact development on Hayden Island and in downtown Vancouver. Exactly what Roger calls for!

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has strong recommendations on major transportation investments which the proposal that I back includes: fix/replace infrastructure within the center of urban regions rather than build new on the edge (check), provide transportation alternatives (check), use tolling to reduce traffic demand and regulate flow to reduce emissions (check).

It’s true that it does take “political” will to spend 5 years at the table getting the best project possible for the environment, our economy and our communities–and then to do the work to get agreement from all levels of government, on both sides of the Columbia. I’ve done that and am proud to have fulfilled the responsibilities given to me by my constituents who voted for me and to my fellow Metro Councilors who entrusted me to represent them in this important discussion.

No project can be considered in isolation from other actions. Population growth will require that we build schools, houses, coffee shops and–yes–roads (!). All of these will cause increased GHG emissions. Does that mean we stop all construction, asking people to double up in their houses and tolerate 60 kids per classroom? Of course not. Just like with a project as daunting as the CRC, we will have to compensate by greener building techniques, reduction in carbon emissions in other sectors, making sure streets are complete streets with transit, bike and pedestrian facilities and maybe even tolls on our freeways.

Sounds a lot like the parts of the CRC proposal Metro President David Bragdon, Mayor Sam Adams, Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt and Clark County Chair Steve Stuart — and I — support: smart policy focused on sustainability but forged in the real world.

A Ride with Rex: Leg 1 – The Rose Quarter.

What’s it really like to ride with Rex? Late last summer, we decided to find out. So we grabbed a camera, strapped a lawn chair to the back of bicycle cargo trailer, and spent an afternoon tooling around with our favorite candidate for Metro President. Along the way, as we stopped at a handful of the many places he’s helped to make better, Rex talked with surprising candor about what he stands for and why, from his strategy to achieve a thriving green economy to the kind of world he wants to leave his two sons.

So over the next couple of weeks, get to know our next Metro President for yourself, one on one. It’s an honest look at a man who’s spent his entire public life making a difference, spread across seven snapshot episodes — each four minutes or less.

And if you like it, please share this video – and support Rex!

My family tries to get around as much as we can on bikes, and since most of our trips are local, that’s worked perfectly for us. But every now and again, we have errands or tasks to do that require a trunk or pickup bed, so we rent a Zipcar (or truck).

Whenever I make a reservation, though, it always takes me back. While I was working at the Bicycle Transportation Alliance back in 1997, I got a grant to study if a car sharing program might work in Portland. In the Business Planning Study (pdf) I submitted to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, we envisioned a pilot project of 20 cars used by 150 residents.

Soon enough, Dave Brook took the ball and ran with it, founding “Car Sharing Portland” in 1998, the first in the nation. Ultimately, that company merged and grew into Zipcar, with nearly 250 vehicles used by more than 11,000 residents — and that’s just here in Portland.

It’s great to think that it all started right here, as so many other good ideas have. I’m proud of the role I played in launching car-sharing, and how perfectly it aligns with the vision we all share for our region: a healthy, sustainable community that makes smart decisions about its future. That’s exactly the kind of innovative approach I intend to continue as Metro President.

In the meantime, though, my pickup-owning friends are also happy: I don’t bug them to borrow their trucks any more!