ON Carbon, Race, and Housing

There is a new coalition for social justice rising up in Marin, one that includes and is lead by people of various colors. Their website www.concernedmarinites.org. In this battle over affordable housing, racial and economic inequality, regional and state planners versus local control what has been lost sight of is the intention of the state’s legislation to cut down on auto travel to reduce greenhouse gases. The concept that commuting and housing are linked is evident in Marin as 85% of us live along the 101 corridor, pressed against the bay shore line. Our state has set us on a course to reduce our GHG emissions more than 80% in the next 35 years. Forty years ago it was regional, state, and local planning that saved our bay from destruction and it will take such coordinated collective actions today to address the challenges of carbon pollution. It is hypocritical to think that we can stop the Keystone XL pipeline simply by ‘putting on a comfortable pair of shoes’ for a warm Sunday afternoon walk in San Francisco while we oppose efforts here in Marin to reduce our demand for oil. This state did not take on this fight for social justice reasons, but the forces of inequality and racism have aligned to defeat this initiative. ‘No Growth in Marin’ is not a rallying cry for sustainability. I feel like we are reliving the story of Genesis. The story of the first 9 generations in the Hebrew Bible is of a fratricidal struggle between human development and conserving the natural environment that ends with the destruction by a great flood. Many environmentalist have this same sense of impending doom for our planet from such a flood. This time science is warning us of sea level rise. We cannot protect our beautiful landscapes unless we likewise do so for those outside Marin. Our survival requires us to see the Bay Area, California, and the whole world. In the next 35 years science tells us that the earth’s population will increase another 2 billion people and California’s by 13 million. The agricultural and natural landscapes of the other 8 Bay Area counties are just as dear as Marin’s and worthy of protecting. The only alternative to urban sprawl is more densely populated urban environments that have already been greatly impacted by development. That is or current duality. We either learn to live more sustainably within existing urban boundaries or we perish from our own misguided myopic view of the world. We must make positive efforts for both social and environmental justice. These struggles can longer be separated from each other. We will not save the planet by simply standing on the sidelines of this struggle and criticizing the efforts of others. If we have found fault we must put forward alternative just and sustainable solutions. Race and affordable housing are counterposed in Marin. Our successful evolutionary trait of tribalism now presents us with an opportunity to delight in and grow from our wondrous ethnic diversity. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X both taught us that racism is exploited to divide us by stirring up fear and loathing towards the other. Racism is ginned up to send us to war and to maintain the power of an elite by preventing us from seeing our common condition. In the years since Proposition 13 destroyed the quality of California’s educational system my family followed many others to Marin. Marin figured out early that local communities could raise money for their schools. Marin also has a truly impressive conservationists spirit that has kept much of its beautiful landscape undeveloped. We do not develop housing units at a pace that even matches our birth rate. People move here for the schools, the fantastic weather, and to be with their kids and grand kids. This tremendous pressure on housing is what drives the cost of living here so high. Our motives are not driven by hate but by admirable emotions and contemplations. It is without a doubt a great privilege to be able to live in this paradise with engaged community-minded folk, a mostly well functioning governance, in addition to the natural beauty. This privilege however is not shared by all. Wealth is power. It is the great divider. And wealth inequality is the essential ingredient of our racism. Our racial aspect is not that of the Alabama State troopers defending Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge. Marin is not for batons, dogs, and fire hoses. But Marin has two toll bridges of its own. If you have the toll you can live here. If you are black or brown the chances of that are much less. Marinites do not need the federal government’s Housing and Urban Development Department to tell us that institutional racism thrives here. Most of us know that Marin is one of the richest counties in the country. We also know that minorities make up a majority of California yet 4 in 5 Marinites are white. Our great wealth, in a big picture economic sense, is our right to demand services. And that wealth brings tens of thousands of workers here every day seeking part of those riches. Its divisiveness sends these workers home when their days work in done. This greatly contributes to our Greenhouse Gas emissions. It is the disparity of our wealth that is both our blessing and our curse. Marin is in need of a social justice organization that is well intentioned and capable of directing us towards a sustainable path both environmentally and socially. The consequences of inaction will be another flood caused by man and not god, it’s called sea level rise. Join with Concerned Marinites and contribute your efforts.

Bob Sivestri is an evangelical apostle of free market capitalism

I first wrote this in June of 2012 to a priate audience. Bob Sivestri is an evangelical apostle of free market capitalism that has driven us to the brink of climate crisis. His arguments that government is the problem and private capital is the solution flies in the face of recent history and is counter to the principles of the social justice. He argues for exception from rules for the privileged class who live in Marin. His long historical rant leaves out any analysis of private capital in the hands of the auto and oil industry that destroyed public transportation though out this country after the second world war and the consequential changes in urban planning that drove suburban sprawl. His tasteless pap does not address the 60,000 people who commute to Marin everyday for work. It is only enticing to those who deny that building is diverted to other counties or for those who view of people of lower economic or diverse ethnicity with fear and loathing. The Best of Bob Silvestri Mr. Silvestri treats the readers of his anti-ABAG trilogy to a variety of false assertions and non-sequiturs that lead to faulty conclusions. He counter posses his meritorious personal efforts to reduce his own greenhouse gas footprint with the need to address the GHG footprint of all Californians and specifically those of us who are fortunate enough to live in Marin. That is the heart of my objections to his illogic. His premise is that urban planners ought to be replicating the privileged conditions of those who live in Marin to solve climate change. He simply does not address the Housing and Urban Development report that faults Marin for having regulatory barriers preventing people of diverse ethnicity and economic means from living in Marin. Marin on a per capita basis is one of the wealthiest counties in the country and that has relevance to the argument for affordable housing. “The New Urbanism planners of the world should be coming to Marin to learn not to preach.” Mill Valley, CA Patch, The Best Laid Plans - Part I: A Brief History of Planning, Bob Silvestri, June 7, 2012 Mr. Silvestri’s articles are rife with assertions that are simply untrue. In part 2 of this series he asserts without substantiation that building for more density creates greater GHG emissions, “New Yorkers [are] the most egregious polluters on the planet on a per capita basis.” In fact that is not true. Time Science reported that Manhattan has a greenhouse gas footprint less than 30% that of the national average. “America's Environmental Garden Spot: Would You Believe Manhattan?” By BRYAN WALSH Tuesday, May 03, 2011. Additionally again without substantiation he asserts that the GHG footprint attributed to light trucks (includes SUV’s) and autos of California is well below the recognised level of 40% and is closer to 25%. The facts are, “According to the Marin Countywide Plan Update, 62% of greenhouse gas emissions in Marin (GHG) come from the transportation sector. In some local jurisdictions such as Mill Valley the estimates are as high as 65% from transportation. Transportation is the “low hanging fruit” of GHG reduction. The greatest local opportunities for GHG reductions will come from getting Marinites out of their cars and onto their feet, bikes and public transit.” Marin County Bicycle Coalition, Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Bicycling and Walking – August 2008 The final point I will make about Mr. Silvestri’s articles is his mischaracterization of ABAG. He premises that if we develop according to the guidelines of ABAG we will somehow be prevented from addressing GHG emissions and the consequential climatic changes by other technological means. Nothing in ABAG’s One Bay Area Plan stops Marinites from adding solar panels to their homes or buying all electric vehicles. He asserts that ABAG is the state’s big government imposing its will one size fits all on cities and counties. California passed AB32 and SB375 laws to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It has left the implementation of these guidelines to multiple regional planning bodies throughout the state that are closer to their impacts. By any measure of democracy Marin is over represented on this body. All 9 Bay Area counties and their 92 cities are represented. Marin has 12 members of the 102 or 12%. Additionally the Joint Policy Committee directed to implement SB375 has 20 members, two from Marin or 10%. Marin has a mere 3% of the population of the Bay Area. ABAG, the Association of Bay Area Governments, does not direct cities or counties to build. Its membership is voluntary. It does require that local governments decide for themselves through their planning process where to build to meet state guidelines. ABAG recently suggested that Marin plan for 2,000 new residential units over the next 30 years.