Transportation and Electricity Have All the Fun

March 20, 2008

Paul Chesser, Climate Strategies Watch

To date the attorneys, regulators and bureaucrats having the most fun and earning the most money from the global warming mytheria have been those involved in utilities and transportation, and frankly, the ones who deal with land use planning are a little miffed and feeling kind of left behind.

Well, their time is now. Coming along on May 5 & 6 is a “comprehensive conference” in Tarrytown, NY, titled, “Climate Change and Land Use: Global warming impacts on land use planning and project approvals,” described thusly:

California, Washington, Oregon and Massachusetts have all passed legislation seeking to regulate GHG emissions in private development and environmentally sensitive projects through their environmental review process. California has passed a landmark statute, AB 32, which requires local governments to consider global warming impacts as part of their planning processes. The settlement agreement between the state and San Bernardino County sheds some light on how the state plans to implement that policy. There is a growing list of other pioneering efforts by local governments that we will address.

For this first-of-its-kind conference, we have assembled experts from early adopter jurisdictions around the country, as well as leading New York land use professionals, to provide insights for the local governments attorneys, planners, consultants and developers. Hear about the factors that go into a successful regulatory program, the appropriate scope of local review in the Hudson River Valley and surrounding regions, and the best way for developers to respond to the concerns leading to these new regulations.

Attorneys, local governments attorneys, planners, engineers, consultants and developers are beckoned to attend and learn how the rent seeking is done.