by Robert Freudenberg, Associate Planner, RPA
From its earliest days, Regional Plan Association has emphasized resource protection in a region where population growth compounds scarcity. Each of the three Regional Plans - 1929, 1968, and 1996 - were remarkably consistent and in many ways successful in their visions: protect landscapes to provide clean drinking water and shape growth; and encourage mixed-use communities to maximize energy efficiency, transit use and street life.
Climate change, which brings the need to recalibrate the carbon cycle that accelerates that change, has reinforced those visions. Indeed this unpredictable future leads us to consider our use of two critical and driving resources: Oil and Water. How do we most effectively adapt to the finite nature of these resources while maintaining economic competitiveness?
This spring, leaders from the metropolitan region and beyond will explore this question at RPA's 18th annual Regional Assembly on April 18th at the Waldorf=Astoria. As the presidential election looms on the horizon, discussing pressing topics of national significance in our region can help lay the groundwork for an enlightened vision of sustainability both regionally and nationally. The truth is, we must adapt. We must take steps to protect regional resources like water, while building a new economy less reliant on resources from outside of the region - namely, oil. Such opportunities are abundant in the region and critical to explore.
While we live in a water-rich region, scientists project that rising summer temperatures associated with climate change, coupled with little change in summer rainfall and a smaller snow pack, will increase the frequency of short-term (1-3 month) droughts. With over 21 million residents demanding around 1.5 billion gallons of water per day, ensuring adequate protection of water supply for a growing population must be a priority. The sources of our clean water include large region-shaping landscapes including the New York/New Jersey Highlands and the Catskill Mountains. The imperative to conserve natural resources in these landscapes has spawned national models for regional planning and landscape preservation. To ensure clean and bountiful supplies of water into the future, these models need to be evaluated for their successes and shortcomings as development pressures increase around them.
Our region - and our entire nation - is at the end of the era of cheap oil, say many analysts. In the meantime, we find we rely on energy and mobility systems designed for $10-a-barrel oil that now costs 10 times that amount. Moving away from oil dependence, and meeting our greenhouse gas emission goals, will mean encouraging more energy efficient communities. This in turn will affect everything from the design of our transportation systems to the design of our streets. At the heart of this shift towards sustainability will be a new "green collar" economy that embraces clean energy innovation, creates new jobs in urban centers and builds green buildings.
We look forward to exploring these issues in-depth at this year's Regional Assembly, "Oil & Water." Be sure to mark you calendars for April 18th, and come help us address these critical issues. A downloadable and distributable save-the-date card can be found here.
From its earliest days, Regional Plan Association has emphasized resource protection in a region where population growth compounds scarcity. Each of the three Regional Plans - 1929, 1968, and 1996 - were remarkably consistent and in many ways successful in their visions: protect landscapes to provide clean drinking water and shape growth; and encourage mixed-use communities to maximize energy efficiency, transit use and street life.
Climate change, which brings the need to recalibrate the carbon cycle that accelerates that change, has reinforced those visions. Indeed this unpredictable future leads us to consider our use of two critical and driving resources: Oil and Water. How do we most effectively adapt to the finite nature of these resources while maintaining economic competitiveness?
This spring, leaders from the metropolitan region and beyond will explore this question at RPA's 18th annual Regional Assembly on April 18th at the Waldorf=Astoria. As the presidential election looms on the horizon, discussing pressing topics of national significance in our region can help lay the groundwork for an enlightened vision of sustainability both regionally and nationally. The truth is, we must adapt. We must take steps to protect regional resources like water, while building a new economy less reliant on resources from outside of the region - namely, oil. Such opportunities are abundant in the region and critical to explore.
While we live in a water-rich region, scientists project that rising summer temperatures associated with climate change, coupled with little change in summer rainfall and a smaller snow pack, will increase the frequency of short-term (1-3 month) droughts. With over 21 million residents demanding around 1.5 billion gallons of water per day, ensuring adequate protection of water supply for a growing population must be a priority. The sources of our clean water include large region-shaping landscapes including the New York/New Jersey Highlands and the Catskill Mountains. The imperative to conserve natural resources in these landscapes has spawned national models for regional planning and landscape preservation. To ensure clean and bountiful supplies of water into the future, these models need to be evaluated for their successes and shortcomings as development pressures increase around them.
Our region - and our entire nation - is at the end of the era of cheap oil, say many analysts. In the meantime, we find we rely on energy and mobility systems designed for $10-a-barrel oil that now costs 10 times that amount. Moving away from oil dependence, and meeting our greenhouse gas emission goals, will mean encouraging more energy efficient communities. This in turn will affect everything from the design of our transportation systems to the design of our streets. At the heart of this shift towards sustainability will be a new "green collar" economy that embraces clean energy innovation, creates new jobs in urban centers and builds green buildings.
We look forward to exploring these issues in-depth at this year's Regional Assembly, "Oil & Water." Be sure to mark you calendars for April 18th, and come help us address these critical issues. A downloadable and distributable save-the-date card can be found here.
@RegionalPlan
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