[MCN] California Supreme Court: Yes, sprawl contributes to climate change

[Lance Olsen]

Excerpt:  "The Supreme Court got the big picture 
on climate and sprawl development exactly right," 
said an attorney for the Center for Biological 
Diversity, in a statement. The center filed suit 
under the California Environmental Quality Act. 
The building industry has long warned that CEQA 
was slowing the construction of housing and 
infrastructure. Clearly, their warnings were 
correct, as this lawsuit targeted a project that 
opponents view as "sprawl."

The justices agreed with the "sprawl causes 
climate change" argument. "Finally, one should 
not assume a sizeable new housing development 
planned for a site relatively far from major 
urban centers, to be built largely on undeveloped 
land with habitat for several sensitive species, 
will have comparatively minor impacts either on 
greenhouse gas emissions or on fish and 
wildlife," wrote Justice Kathryn Werdegar for the 
majority.

If Californians aren't going to be housed in 
suburban-style neighborhoods, how will they live? 
The answer, many environmentalists say, is infill 
neighborhoods - smaller, high-density and 
apartment complexes shoehorned into existing 
urban areas, where residents can rely more on 
public transit rather than on automobiles.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/dec/07/newhall-ranch-housing-global-warming/
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"The most painful and expensive way to deal with 
global climate change will be to ignore it until 
something happens that elicits powerful public 
demands for immediate and Draconian action."

Jonathan Lash. 
"As the earth heats up. " 
Journal of Commerce  August 16, 1996.
=============================================================================
"Š the race between climate dynamics and  climate 
policy will be a close one Š." and " Š requires 
an industrial revolution for sustainability 
starting now." 

Hans Joachim Schellenhuber.
Global warming: Stop worrying, start panicking?
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 
September 23, 2008  vol. 105  no. 38
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