This morning, the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club announced it was opposing the T-SPLOST referendum, because it “is primarily a business-as-usual sprawl-inducing road program”, in favor of a “Plan B” with more transit funding.  From the Sierra Club’s press release…

A frequent refrain of T-SPLOST supporters is that there is “no Plan B” for transportation in Georgia. The Sierra Club rejects this notion, and believes that there is indeed great potential for an alternative plan that achieves meaningful progress on commute alternatives for Georgians without needlessly subsidizing another wave of sprawl. Elements of a truly visionary and transformational “Plan B” should include:

• A Workable Institutional Framework that provides an equitable regional transit governance structure and de-politicizes transportation decision making.
• Effective and Innovative Financing for Commute Alternatives such as a restructured multimodal gas tax, a parking tax, and other mechanisms that tie funding to travel behavior.
• A Vision that Enables Atlanta and Georgia to Lead the 21st-Century Economy by moving beyond business-as-usual sprawl development and towards a truly sustainable and forward-looking future.

Juxtapose that statement versus a April 21st report from the AJC’s Jim Galloway on what Georgia’s state leaders say will happen if T-SPLOST doesn’t pass this time around…

Officially, there is no Plan B, so [House Speaker David] Ralston wasn’t prepared to go much further on the topic. But the threat – no, make that a hard promise – is out there. Should the July 31 referendums fail, the next blueprints will be generated from within the state Capitol.

Do you believe that Capitol leaders are bluffing?  And would a transportation plan created within the state Capitol be closer to what the Sierra Club has in mind?   These seem to be just two questions voters will have to answer for themselves before they tap the touch-screen on July 31st.

Here’s a beautiful exchange between WABE’s Dennis O’Hayer and House Speaker David Ralston, courtesy of Political Insider:

O’Hayer: Can MARTA survive another year without a transportation plan that includes some loosening of the restrictions that it faces on how it spends the tax revenue it gets?

Ralston:  I’ve been trying to understand how MARTA got in the problem they’re in. I think that we have to have a better understanding of what brought us to this point before we know how to get out of the problem.

Oh OK.  So let me get this straight.  The House Speaker of the State of Georgia, which itself is dealing with a massive $4 billion+ deficit, doesn’t understand that during what is termed a “recession” that tax revenue declines because people stop buying stuff?  Well, that certainly explains a lot.

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