This is the third in a series of six posts in the first phase of our online RTP policy exercise. Your job is to describe what the outcomes will look like if the RTP succeeds in producing the 2040 objective of Healthy Environment:
Forests, rivers, streams, wetlands, air quality and natural areas are restored and protected.
To remind you of the rules for this exercise:
– An ‘outcome’ must be reduced to a single ‘bullet’, i.e., a one sentence statement. You may follow that with a single short paragraph providing further explanation if you want.
– If you have multiple outcomes, submit one comment for each.
– If you agree with someone else’s outcome, quote it in your comment (my preference is italics for quoting) and say you agree and elaborate (no more than one paragraph) on why if you want.
– No criticism of other people’s proposed outcomes
– If you have questions or comments about the exercise or rules, comment on the exercise overview post, not here please.
Go!
12 responses to “RTP Exercise: Healthy Environment”
– Freeway and port emissions are localized and contained (through capping, undergrounding and green barriers such as treelines, as well as point-of-emission controls) such that the residents of every neighborhood in the region breathe clean, fresh air every day of the year.
Providing additional motor vehicle capacity is the top transport priority to relieve the negative aspects congestion has on the environment.
– Diversity of native species increases in all areas.
– All measurable pollutants decrease annually.
This is the best I can do for a measurable outcome that covers all parts of the objective. (I don’t really think that this objective is even remotely possible, though I like imagining what things would look like if it were.)
BTW, is this where reducing ambient noise would go?
The only time I want to step into a car is to race at the racetrack, autocross at the autocross events, or offroad on the off road courses all at the same time paying honest, direct, use based fees for such items provided by the moral integrity of a real business that doesn’t appropriate funds from me by force.
– Vast stretchers of wilderness are cared for by landowners that live completely sustainabley on 5-50 acre parcels, by having enough land area to be energy independent with solar and wind, harvesting rain water and having enough land for growing their own food while most of each land owner’s land is forested and fiercely protected so that wild animals can be managed for profit (which, by some reports, is working well in Africa to protect endangered species) while harvesting a few trees to keep the forest vibrant while providing some cash income.
– Motor fuel, produced by pulling carbon out of the air and hydrogen out of water provides limitless, carbon neutral, non polluting, liquid fuel for hybrid (or fuel cell) cars by using non-polluting nuclear energy that produces waste that is only dangerous for a few decades.
– the Willamette River becomes safe for drinking.
— fish from the river become safe to eat.
— swimming in the river becomes a popular kids’ pastime.
Continued progress in improving air and water quality by shifting costs to non-point sources, in particular motor vehicles.
Motor vehicle registration cost would be based on a mileage/emission formula that captures the actual contribution of each vehicle to air toxins; proceeds would be used to fund non or low polluting transportation options.
Likewise, a fuel, oil and tire surcharge would fund continued river and watershed cleanup and restoration, reflecting the fact that these materials constitute the bulk of hard surface run-off pollutants.
– Air and water quality is improved by making transit vehicles pay tax on their fuel, oil and tyres that reflect their pollution costs, just like other transportation choices and all transportation system users pay their full cost.
– The planners read, in a Seattle paper (Google seattle bus pollution suv), that Seattle buses actually pollute more 135 SUVs and decide to actually look at the fuel usage, pollution generated, actual cost and monetary value of people’s time and recognize reality by recommencing that we shut down Trimet and replace it with small cars, subsidized for the low income while subsidized taxi fares for those that cannot drive and cannot afford taxi fare, resulting in a less costly, more energy efficient and lower pollution transport system which improves people’s wellness
* Economic valuations and standard accounting practices incorporate environmental damage and resource depletion into the costs of doing business.
Difficult to account for in an exact way, certainly, but taking steps in this direction would apply a market feedback mechanism to check the environmental subsidies invisibly granted to consumers by our contemporary accounting practices.
-The runoff from transportation facilities is reduced by 75% through the use of “green street” techniques.
There are a number of techniques that can be used to reduce runoff or “treat” it locally and have it infiltrate into the soil. Not only does this benefit our local waterways, but it also reduces the costs of providing sufficient storm sewers.