Get On The Bus
(This post is part of a series.)
It seems like state and city politicians are still dead set on spending billions of dollars on Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct. (And just to be clear: I was wrong to declare the tunnel dead last week; the governor tried to put a stake in its heart, but city officials resurrected it as a 4-lane "hybrid" tunnel. And so, the saga continues...proving, yet again, that I know nothing about reading the political tea leaves.)
But King County exec. Ron Sims seems to be looking for another way forward. He's identified 49 fixes to downtown transit -- everything from bus only lanes to curb bulbs for faster loading to extensions of electric bus wires -- that could add capacity for about 35,000 extra transit trips through downtown Seattle each day. And as he points out, these kinds of transit improvements are going to be necessary, no matter what happens with the viaduct -- whether it's closed for construction, or simply demolished.
In case you're counting, 35,000 extra transit trips could absorb about a third of the car trips taken each day on the Viaduct -- at a fraction of the cost of a new highway, whether elevated or underground.
Which, of course, begs the question: if a few tens of millions in up-front infrastructure investments, plus another $10 million per year in transit operations, can absorb a full third of the trips from the Viaduct, what could you do with some real money?
Washington: The West Coast Hold-out?
To date, Washington has been the weakest link in a potentially giant West Coast cap and trade market for greenhouse gases. This is odd. And annoying. But it could be about to change.
So far, the clear frontrunner has been California, under the leadership of a Republican. Recently there's been talk in British Columbia, under its center-right premier, of drafting a California-style system. And earlier this week, we heard word that Oregon's governor was considering a more modest cap-and-trade system. Under the rosiest scenario, all this could point toward a big (as in 48 million people) and highly credible West Coast cap and trade carbon market--one that could conceivably set a new standard for the world.
The do-nothing oddity, as I mentioned earlier, is Washington, which has a Democratic governor and Democratic super-majorities in both legislative houses. I've been gnashing my teeth about this for some time, but I may soon be able to give my chompers a rest: Josh Feit at The Stranger is reporting that there's now a cap and trade bill (pdf) in the house.
No word yet on the bill's viability. Apparently, there's no companion bill in the senate and many key Democratic legislators have yet to sign on in support. I also haven't heard any buzz. Not yet anyway.
Now is the time for folks in Washington to start turning up the heat on their representatives, including the governor. After all, the state just got an assessment of the huge impacts that global warming is likely to visit on the local economy. And Washington now has about the best political climate imaginable.
It's time to act.
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Word on the Street
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Talk Ain't Cheap
The State of the Union address may be just a lot of talk. But considering that each word in these national speeches is painstakingly choreographed, a small phrase for a president can be a giant step for mankind.
That’s why, when Bush uttered the words “global climate change,” before a TV audience of 45.5 million, I nearly jumped out of my seat. HE SAID IT! He said it for the first time in any of his seven State of the Union addresses.
This is huge. Especially in light of the results from a Pew Research Center poll on global warming that happened to be released Wednesday. Even those few words, when spoken by Bush, may signal a tipping point for Americans who remain on the fence about the reality of climate change and what can be done about it.
Check out these numbers:
