Op-Ed: Slow Growth Fails the Paris Accords Too

Many local leaders spoke strongly against President Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accords, but local land use and transportation policies still sorely lack any consideration of climate impact.

2 minute read

June 5, 2017, 8:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


PCH Santa Monica

Thomas Barrat / Shutterstock

Juan Matute writes of the example set by the liberal enclave of Santa Monica, California in the effort to limit carbon emissions. Matute's verdict: that the city of Santa Monica, like the United States, is backing off commitments to address climate change.

First, Matute notes Santa Monica's tradition of environmental planning, and its ostensible commitment to the cause of limiting carbon emissions:

Santa Monica has a long-standing Sustainable City Plan and a Sustainability Bill of Rights (which enumerates a resident’s right to a sustainable climate). It would seem that a city like Santa Monica would make every effort to consider the impacts of its major decisions on our planet’s future climate.

But the city has recently released a new downtown plan "that ignores its impact on climate change," writes Matute. Instead of planning for new growth around the city's transit lines, Matute says the plan makes a few token mentions of the city's carbon footprint, and a few sentences devoted to the California's SB 32, passed last year, which mandates a 40 percent reduction in statewide GHG emissions.

Matute recommends the use of the Integrated Transportation and Land Use Consequential Life-Cycle Assessment method to model emissions resulting from planning decisions. It will be up to planning agencies at the local level to decide to consider and address those kinds of models. To be fair—Santa Monica is not the only liberal-leaning city that hasn't.

Thursday, June 1, 2017 in Santa Monica Next

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight