“Locals” Continue Attack on S.B. 375 “Sprawl Bill”

One source of opposition was local elected officials whoquestioned whether climate change was a real problem or questioned whether whatthey do has any impact on climate change. So there’s still a certain amount of foot dragging going on with localofficials who don’t think it’s a problem or think it’s someone else’s problem.

Schuiling challenged the idea that land use changes are required tomeet the state’s GHG reduction goals because the goal cannot be met bymaking cleaner vehicles, as the California Air Resources Board hassuggested. “That is simply not true,” Schuiling said.

Schuiling pulled out what he clearly regards as a “smoking gun” on the GHG issue – a letter from the South Coast Air Quality Management District claiming that zero-emission vehicles still must be the weapon of choice against GHGs.

A similar but more subtle argument came from Hasan Ikhrata, the executive director of the Southern California Association of Governments,which is charged with implementing SB 375 in the Los Angeles region.Speaking on the same panel as Schuiling, Ikhrata said: “I don’t think375 should be thought of as a global warming bill. I don’t think it’sthe most cost-effective way to reduce GHG emissions. … When I speakabout 375 I speak about a land use bill, an urban form bill.”

This was substantially the same point Ikhrata made a couple of weeks ago at the SCAG General Assemblyin La Quinta, when he rolled out SCAG’s “conceptual land use plan”.Ikhrata did not deny that SCAG and the region’s local governmentsshould pursue a more efficient urban form, but, rather, argued thatpolicymakers should rely less on the idea that climate change is the reason for doing so.