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Comment 329 for AB 32 Scoping Plan (scopingpln08) - 45 Day.

First NameGerald
Last NameCauthen
Email Addresscautn1@aol.com
Affiliation
SubjectAB 32
Comment
CARB will be playing a vital role in ensuring California's 
environmental and economic future viability.  People are therefore
counting on your agency to do its job with vigor,  determination
and backbone.

First a word about SB 375.  SB 375 was unfortunately seriously
watered down, such that it grandfathers in virtually every
transportation capital improvement project in sight, even those
still in the early planning stages.  For instance MTC's entire Bay
Area transportation program covering the next 25 years was
unaccountably exempted from the terms of SB 375.  That leaves those
of us concerned with improving California's transportation systems
with AB 32 and CARB's AB 32 enforcement policies as our only hope. 
In fact it appears that the only hope of meeting the Governor's GHG
reduction tarket lies in CARB and the way it implements AB 32. 

It is of great importance therefore that you adopt and enforce a
tough and consistent standard in the following three areas: 

First, strict new land use controls must result in new residential
and commercial development being clustered around transit
nodes....pushback notwithstanding.

Second, the era of highway expansion and huge public transit
boondoggles, both of which are still ongoing in the Bay Area, must
end.  Highway funds should be used to maintain and improve existing
roadways, but without increasing their auto-carrying capacities. 
Transit funds should be directed to practical projects designed to
render the overall public transit system much more useful and
attractive to many more people.

Third, the public subsidies now lavished upon California's roadway
users must be reduced.  This could take the form of higher gas
taxes, new roadway use fees, higher excise taxes, increased parking
fees, or some combination thereof.  A Japanese highway users is
taxed over 20 times as much per mile as his American counterpart. 
Something's amiss, and it's not in Japan.

Thanks for reading this far; CARB has an extremely important job
to do, and we wish you well. 

Geralc Cauthen

Attachment
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Date and Time Comment Was Submitted 2008-12-08 13:29:53

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