In planning and development these days, everything's green.
For years, the issue was housing — specifically prices and the lack of affordable places to live. No more. Now, global climate change is taking over every discussion of land-use planning in California. And climate change – along with a variety of related environmental issues – is likely to take over every issue of California Planning & Development Report from here on out.
The current edition of California Planning & Development Report is devoted to all things green in the planning and development world. Turns out, though, that green means different things to different people. To some, it means environmentally conscious construction techniques, such as those embodied in the LEED program. To others, it means "sustainable" (another squishy word) development, and that usually means something other than suburbia. To some, it means additional government mandates and regulations. To others, it means an opportunity to improve how and where we build.
All of this is indicative of the fact that we don't yet know how climate change will affect land-use policies and decisions in California. The regulatory framework is barely in its infancy, the case law has yet to be written, and planners admit that they are still casting about. The Schwarzenegger administration and state lawmakers show plenty of willingness to act, though. And did we mention that Attorney General and 2010 gubernatorial frontrunner Jerry Brown has strong opinions on the subject?
Many planners appear to be comfortable with the climate change issue's sudden prominence, which is no surprise. Many planners have contended for years that we need to find "greener" methods of development. But, as Bill Fulton writes in our current edition, professional planners are more likely to do the dirty work in the trenches than to carry the climate change flag.
2008 already feels like the year of the never-ending political campaign. Governor Schwarzenegger has declared 2008 the year of education. The state's $14 billion-plus budget deficit suggests 2008 may be the year of budget cuts and tax increases. But 2008 might also be the year that we finally start to wrap our arms around the connections between land use and climate change, and how each affects the other.
And that might be just fine. With the housing market in the tank and a general economic malaise slowly spreading, no one is building much of anything right now. It's as good a time as any to revisit our land-use policies and practices.
- Paul Shigley
