Blogtown, PDX: Meet the Contenders - Question #9

The Portland Mercury's Blogtown, PDX site has been producing a weekly series of questions for the various candidates running in the Portland mayor and city council races. This series is a great way to meet the candidates and learn about the issues affecting the public and Portland city government. We're reproducing (with permission) Chris's responses here, while also providing links to the original Blogtown posts.

Question #9:

(Original Post from Feb. 14, 2008)

Last year the city adopted recommendations made by the Portland Peak Oil Task Force but little action has been taken. If one of the major solutions to global warming and peak oil is to reduce energy consumption and with it, reduce growth, how would you as a city commissioner approach this goal knowing that the business community prefers an unsustainable status quo?

- Jonathan Brandt, SE Portland

Chris's Response:

The question includes an incorrect premise – the report does not call for a reduction in growth. What it does call for is reducing consumption of certain fossil fuels by 50%. From the executive summary:

1. Reduce total oil and natural gas consumption by 50 percent over the next 25 years.

Interestingly it does not include coal (which has not peaked, but contributes significantly to global warming). As Commissioner I would work to reduce all non-renewable energy sources. In fact, I would set an ambitious goal to convert Portland and the rest of our region to 100% renewable, carbon-neutral energy in 15-20 years.

To achieve this we need to frame this not as a question of sacrifices or limits, but of investment. Just as we invested after WWII in a system of national highways that propelled our economy (and unfortunately some very unsustainable land use patterns) and as we invested in the ‘60s to put a man on the moon, propelling innovative technologies, we need a major program of investment in renewable energy (solar, wind and local biofuels) and investment in a pattern of development that supports reduction in energy use.

While some of this depends on national policy, there is a lot that we can drive right here. More than a third of our carbon footprint is from transportation and another third is from buildings. Cities have significant control over both. Portland is already a leader in smart growth, alternative transportation and sustainable construction. We need to take all of these to the next level. In doing so, we can build a green industry cluster in our region that will fuel our local economy as we sell that knowledge, technology and service to the rest of nation and world.

Growth will actually be part of the solution. As we gain 300,000 new neighbors in Portland over the next 20-25 years, we’ll keep redeveloping the City to accommodate them by adding more housing and jobs along transit corridors, building additional transit capacity and making all of our City more friendly to walking and biking. The result is that things will be a lot closer together! Even if you live in a single-family neighborhood adjacent to a transit corridor, there will be lots of goods and service available to you – in walking or biking distance – on that more populated transit corridor. We won’t need to drive as far or as often as we do now, and even for longer trips we’ll have more alternatives to driving alone. We’ve already seen it – in this region each of us drives fewer miles than we did ten years ago.

And the business community will find more than ample opportunities in this investment program. There may be grumbling, but smart business people recognize when the status quo no longer provides opportunity for them and look for new opportunities. And they’ll produce green jobs in the process.

As a transportation and neighborhood activist, I’ve been working on these issues for more than 10 years, not just because they head off big future problems, but also because they contribute to livability now. As Commissioner I’ll keep moving this agenda – farther and faster.