Minnesota and the Twin Cities were once on the cutting edge for connecting regional land-use planning with environmental impacts. No longer...California is now the model after Tuesday when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger took a bold step toward refocusing land-use planning in the state.

The Governor signed into law Senate Bill 375, which closely ties greenhouse gas emissions to land-use planning and transportation. The bill builds on a state law passed in 2006 that requires California to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by no later than 2020. Senate Bill 375 recognizes that this goal cannot be reached without planning for land-use patterns that reduce the need for automobile travel.

At the core of California's bill are a series of requirements for regional planning organizations and a number of incentives for local governments and developers. Key among these is a provision where California's metropolitan planning organizations will eventually be given a specific greenhouse gas emissions reduction target from the state and will need to develop land-use plans that meet these targets (or explain why the targets can't be met).

Minnesota needs to follow California's lead and take a decisive step to connect land-use and transportation planning to greenhouse gas emissions. Minnesota recently passed the Next Generation Energy Act of 2007, which set a state goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to at least 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2015, 30 percent below by 2015, and 80 percent below by 2050. With the transportation sector responsible for 24 percent of the state's greenhouse gas emissions (Source: Center for Climate Strategies), it is clear that steps need to be taken to use land-use solutions to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to driving.

We will have more details on California Senate Bill 375 and other efforts to connect land-use planning to greenhouse gas emission in the October issue of Momentum.