Commentary: BART’s SJ extension timeframe weakens pro-green argument

Marc Joffe analyzes the controversial BART downtown San Jose extension, critiquing transit officials’ statements that the project will effectively—and efficiently—reduce local greenhouse gas emissions.

As the federal Department of Transportation announces other bidding opportunities, the Bay Area transit agencies should expect to face other competitors across the country who have more urgent needs and projects that could benefit more people.

Bay Area transit officials often justify their expansion projects in terms of climate change. But whatever one thinks about the human role in warming the planet, it is hard to argue that these three projects are a cost-effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Furthermore, their long execution times mean that none of them will provide any emission savings at all before 2030, a year that Green New Dealers had previously identified as the drop-dead date for achieving net zero emissions. Instead, these projects will all come online much later, at a time when most Californians will be adopting to the state’s forthcoming ban on internal combustion engines.

This article originally appeared in the California Globe. Read the whole thing here.

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