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.

Countless unfinished DeKalb subdivisions are getting greener by the day, but does that make DeKalb the greenest county in the country?

After the recent sewage leak epidemic, the AJC’s Truth-O-Meter honed in on a claim on the DeKalb County website that it was the “Greenest County in the County” and dubbed it “Barely True”.

DeKalb backed up the claim citing their methane gas-to-electricity program at the public landfill, its recent acquisition of 3,000 acres of parkland, the most hiking and biking trails in the state, LEED standards for County buildings, and a $15 million federal grant to reduce fossil fuel emissions.

The chairman of the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club told the AJC the claim was “pretty unthinkable.”  The AJC goes on to detail the numerous ways these claims are shoddy at best and in some cases not even true.

Beyond the fact that the “green” descriptor is really little more than a marketing gimmick these days, what the heck is so “green” about a hiking trail?  Do people take them to work in lieu of driving? Or does just basking in nature qualify as “green”?

And what about urban form?  If the greenest city in the country is really New York City, than it stands to reason that even neighboring Fulton County would be a better contender for “greenest county” in the anything.

I was sort of intrigued when I stumbled across the Sierra Club’s 2010 “Cool Schools” ranker yesterday, which uses a detailed questionnaire filled out by undergrad colleges to determine how “green” they are – asking questions about energy use, efficiency, food, transport, waste, etc. – and then ranks them.

Cool idea!

But of course, I can’t look at anything without a critical eye anymore thanks to all you smartypantses out there, so here’s where I see this trendy green ranker coming up quite short.

While I applaud the decision to make “energy supply” the heaviest weighted category – which is really what prevented Emory University from ranking higher than #42 (50% coal/50% natural gas) – key questions about urban form are COMPLETELY omitted.

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Carl forwards an email from State Representative Mary Margaret Oliver urging Georgia residents to attend a Sunday November 15th “sneak peak” airing of “Coal Country” at Push Push Theater in Decatur at 5pm.  The event is being hosted by the Sierra Club and five, count them five, State Reps (Mary Margaret Oliver, Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, Elly Dobbs, Kathy Ashe, and Pat Gardner)

According to Oliver’s release…

The award-winning documentary features amazing footage of coal mining in the South and prompts discussion about the state of Georgia’s current and future energy economy.

…I am hosting this event to gain support and interest in HB 276, that I introduced last session to limit over time the importation of coal into Georgia from mountain top removal mines.

Here’s the summary on HB 276…

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Carl tweets that the Georgia’s chapter of the Sierra Club is moving from its Midtown location to East Decatur Station on October 1st.  Upon request, Carl forwarded me this newsletter that gives details.  Here ya go…

We have been at our current office location since 2003, and this space has served us well. The landlord, Midtown Two TSO (Simpson), has been very generous in offering us a modest price on this space, and lots of free storage space. However, we have received an even better offer on rent from East Decatur Station. The space will be much smaller than our current office, but we will have a lovely patio, large windows and a view of a nice greenspace behind our office. While the parking may be a little tight, we are right across the street from the Avondale Marta Station, so park your car, hop on the train, and come see us at our new digs: 743B E College Ave., Decatur 30030. Stay tuned for an announcement of our Open House.  Watch the Sierran and our website for details as they become available.

Carl notes the Open House will be October 22nd @ 6:30p.