Progressive Agenda

Environment & Smart Growth Policy

Our values: Security, safety, health, protection, responsibility, quality of life

Our vision: We have a responsibility to protect the quality of life, not just for ourselves, but for our children and grandchildren. To do that we need to both stop the degradation of our environment now and pursue policies that build a better future. These goals fit into three categories, laws that: (1) reduce the pollution of our air, water and land—including gases that accelerate climate change; (2) conserve energy and quickly develop clean and renewable sources of energy; and (3) pursue policies that build infrastructure to create environmentally friendly cities and towns for the future.

Protect our air, water and soil

Pollution is waste material that adversely affects air, water or soil and governments have tried to control it for hundreds of years. Our major federal anti-pollution laws—the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and National Environmental Policy Act—were passed in the early 1970s. In recent years, states and localities have gone beyond federal regulations to address climate change, clean up emissions from power plants, require disclosure of the chemicals used in fracking or ban fracking outright, prohibit PFAS chemicals, discourage or ban the use of single-use plastic bags and foam food containers, and encourage recycling of paper, metals, glass, paint, motor oil, pharmaceuticals and electronics. Minority and low-income communities bear a disproportionate share of the health risks caused by pollution and governments need to provide those communities environmental justice.

Promote conservation and clean energy

With climate change legislation largely blocked in Congress, states and municipalities have been leading the way to encourage energy conservation and promote clean energy. Conservation is accomplished by using more energy-efficient devices, improving insulation and design of government buildings (e.g., schools), and encouraging energy efficiency in both commercial buildings and private homes. Clean energy is promoted by using solar or wind power as much as possible on government and private properties, and by incentivizing local energy companies to employ or expand wind and solar power generation.

Encourage smart growth

Smart growth is an urban planning strategy that concentrates development in compact urban centers to avoid sprawl. Smart growth produces a more efficient use of resources while preserving more of the natural environment. Smart growth policies include: making communities pedestrian-friendly, building bicycle lanes and encouraging biking, developing  mass transit and encouraging its use, supporting mixed-use development with affordable housing set-asides, and maintaining greenbelts and wildlife corridors.

FEATURED POLICIES FOR 2024

Transition to zero emission vehicles

In the United States, about 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from motor vehicles. So, it is essential to minimize vehicle emissions as soon as possible. Every state and most localities own fleets of vehicles and most also license private fleets, like buses and taxicabs. The Transition to Zero Emissions Act creates programs to gradually convert all government-owned and licensed vehicles to zero emission vehicles.

Create local climate action plans

Climate change will eventually impact every state and locality. Coastal areas will have to deal with rising sea levels. The South and East will see more devastating hurricanes. The Midwest and West will experience more tornadoes, drought and wildfires. Farming will be affected by higher temperatures. And areas susceptible to flooding will see catastrophic floods. Some of the effects of climate change can be predicted and some of its damage can be mitigated with planning. States and localities should create commissions to study the local effects of climate change and what policy changes could address them.

Mandate environmental justice

Racial and ethnic minority populations and low-income communities bear a disproportionate share of the health risks caused by polluted air and contaminated water, and by solid waste landfills, hazardous waste facilities, wastewater treatment plants, waste incinerators, and other similar facilities. This is largely the result of past governmental decisions. The Environmental Justice Act establishes a commission to investigate incidents of environmental racism and coordinate government efforts to ensure that minorities and low-income citizens are not disproportionately subjected to environmental hazards.

Divest from fossil fuels

Climate change is one of the greatest threats we face to our health, welfare and future prosperity. Nearly every state or locality can—at least—divest its retirement funds from fossil fuels, as New York and Maine have done. More than 1,500 private institutions with assets totaling more than $40 trillion have also divested from fossil fuels.

Encourage recycling through packaging responsibility

Cities and counties in the U.S. recycle only about five percent of plastic waste products. The rest ends up in landfills, which have diminishing capacity. In the past two years, four states have enacted Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, which encourage companies to make their product packaging more readily recyclable. The Packaging Responsibility Act creates an enhanced recycling program funded by producers of products that use specific enumerated materials.

Demonstrate leadership on climate change

The earth’s atmosphere is warming at the fastest rate in recorded history. Around the world, humans are threatened by rising seas, intense storms, and episodes of both flooding and drought. There is no issue more urgent. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act commits the state to achieving 100 percent clean energy by 2045, and empowers agencies to create plans that accomplish this goal.

Protect the environment from forever chemicals

A family of chemicals known as PFAS, often called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment, are used in many household products and have been linked to cancers. The Protections from Forever Chemicals Act, based on newly-enacted California legislation, would ban their use in children’s products and disposable food packaging.

Promote green buildings

In order to get energy use and pollution under control, cities and states need to encourage better design and construction of buildings. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is a flexible, non-bureaucratic standard for construction and maintenance of new or existing buildings. LEED standards emphasize energy and water savings, use of recycled materials, and indoor air quality. Many jurisdictions have already enacted laws to encourage new buildings and major renovations to meet LEED standards.

Impose a fee or ban on plastics

Every year, millions of plastic shopping bags end up as litter and they can take centuries to decompose. These bags are among the most common types of litter on land and one of the most troublesome when they drift in rivers or seas. Thus, to discourage their use, dozens of cities and counties have imposed a 5 or 10 cent disposable bag fee, some of which target plastic bags while others apply to paper bags as well. California, Hawaii and many cities simply ban “single-use” plastic bags. Going further, California and several cities have also limited single-use plastic straws.

Ban foam food containers

Expanded polystyrene, a lightweight material often used as foam food containers, is easily carried off by the wind and runoff into waterways where the containers break into small beads and absorb toxins. These toxic microplastics, which are impossible to clean up, are mistaken for food by fish and marine mammals, with fatal results. State legislation can and should ban foam food containers as the state of Maryland has done.

Residential solar energy

America needs to encourage the production and use of renewable energy wherever it is economically feasible. In many places, it has become practical for a single house to provide much of its own power through environmentally friendly sources like solar electric cells. Unfortunately, many families that might benefit from this source cannot afford the upfront costs of installation. Increasingly, private firms are willing to install renewable energy systems at no or low cost in exchange for leasing agreements that provide the firms with the right to sell the energy to the property owner. These leases can dramatically increase use of renewable energy, however, state or local laws often make leasing of this kind impossible. Legislation can fix the problem by allowing third-party firms to install and operate solar energy systems, utilize state or local bonding facilities, and take advantage of renewable energy tax credits.

Pollinator Protection

Bees are dying off at an alarming rate. Studies confirm that toxic neonicotinoid pesticides (also known as neonics) contribute to honey bee mortality, as well as to declines in native pollinators, birds and aquatic life. In addition to killing bees outright, even low levels of these toxic pesticides impair bees’ ability to learn, find their way back to the hive, collect food, produce new queens and mount an effective immune response. The Pollinator Protection Act limits the use of bee-killing pesticides.