WSJ Hears From CA Smart Growth Bill Author

Steinberg points to the Wendell Cox approach to growth as a recipe for "more unmitigated sprawl, more smog, more cars on our already congested freeways" while accusing him of "mischaracterizing the intent and impact of a bill I authored in 2008 that will provide California residents exactly what they want: more housing options, greater access to public transportation, shorter commute times and an average savings of $3,000 per household per year on transportation and energy costs."

"The California Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act (SB 375) is a rational approach that serves as a blueprint for other states on how to turn inevitable growth into smart growth. Its provisions provide regions with a thoughtful framework to minimize expanding development, relieve roadway congestion, provide housing and working alternatives to Californians confounded by gridlock, and improve air quality. That is why it earned the support of a broad coalition including the California Building Industry Association, the League of California Cities, the California State Association of Counties and environmental and affordable housing advocates."

(The bill was sponsored by two of the leading state environmental groups, the CA League of Conservation Voters and the Natural Resources Defense Council).

Writing in her Natural Resources Defense Council staff blog, Amanda Eakin states, "Steinberg handily refutes Cox's wild somersaults of logic which assure doom and gloom if Steinberg's SB 375 – California's Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act – is implemented. The occasion for Cox's Op-Ed was the unanimous vote by the 83-member bi-partisan Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Regional Council to adopt their region's first plan to implement SB 375 on April 4th, 2012."

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Thanks to Climate Plan