Local Climate Groups Urge HCAOG to Restore Strong Climate Commitments in Regional Transportation Plan

Press release from CRTP, EPIC, and 350 Humboldt:

CRTP, EPIC, and 350 Humboldt urge the Humboldt County Association of Governments (HCAOG) to acknowledge the climate crisis in its Regional Transportation Plan, and to maintain the much-needed ambition of the plan’s goals and policies for tackling the crisis.

HCAOG’s Regional Transportation Plan is the official long-range plan for transportation in Humboldt County. It is updated every four years, and a new draft is currently being circulated for public comment.

Transportation is the leading source of local climate pollution, and the plan has long recognized climate change as a crisis. During the plan’s last update in 2021, HCAOG also added Safe and Sustainable Transportation Targets that commit the region to achieving specific milestones on the way to a safe, climate-friendly transportation system.

The new draft plan, however, eliminates every use of the phrase “climate crisis” from the document. It even goes so far as to edit the phrase “climate crisis” out of a quote from the California State Transportation Agency–one of many state agencies that routinely refer to climate change as a crisis.

The watering down of the plan’s language is matched by backsliding on Safe and Sustainable Transportation. The plan proposes an unnecessary and harmful delay to HCAOG’s target for the construction of non-car-dependent housing, as well as delays to electric vehicle charging station targets and other needed climate actions.

Perhaps most troubling, the new plan would eliminate a policy calling for “project funding consistency.” In other words, HCAOG is removing the only policy that held it accountable for the projects it funds being consistent with its own climate and safety goals. Without implementation, a plan is just words on paper, and funding consistency is one of the key reasons for a regional transportation plan to exist. To ensure that the region’s transportation projects save lives and help stabilize the climate, HCAOG must put its money where its mouth is.

CRTP, EPIC, and 350 Humboldt applaud HCAOG for previously acknowledging the climate crisis and for adopting its Safe and Sustainable Transportation targets four years ago. We call on HCAOG not to reverse climate progress. We urge members of the public to join us in contacting HCAOG and telling them to acknowledge the climate crisis and act accordingly.

Comments can be submitted to HCAOG at [email protected].

Official comments submitted by our organizations can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/RTPComments.