What are the Mayor’s Plans for the Environment?

For Austin’s new mayor, Steve Adler, time is always on the mind. 

At a recent Austin Environmental Democrats meeting, he told a packed house that he is acutely aware of the fact that he only has 47 months left in office, and that he intends to achieve as much as possible during the next four years.

That includes a slew of environmental initiatives, which he laid out for the crowd. 

So, here it is – Steve Adler’s Environmental Priorities:

1. Create a standing city council committee on the environment. First, Adler pointed out that one of his environmental priorities has already been achieved. Under his direction, city council will now have an Open Space, Environment, & Sustainability Committee, specifically tasked with dealing with these issues. He also mentioned that he is working on creating several senior policy advisor positions to help him achieve some of his more ambitious environmental goals. (AEN’s own Brandi Clark Burton has been tapped to be one of these policy advisors).

2. Get serious about water reuse. Adler also said that he wants to encourage council to make serious moves on water, actually implementing a water reuse program in a way the city has not done before. He talked about expanding purple pipe and changing the business model of Austin Water so that customers are not charged more for conserving water. 

3. Stay vigilant on SH 45SW. Adler said that he already had a draft letter written to send to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, asking them to issue an opinion about the road’s controversial Environmental Impact Statement. The city really needs USFWS to weigh in at this point, Adler said, in order to tip the scales in their favor. 

4. Make climate change fundamental to everything the city is doing. 

5. Take a hard look at the business model of Austin Energy. The mayor acknowledged the fact that the utility’s business model needs to change if it is going to further embrace renewables, distributed generation, and energy efficiency. He even said that he would consider the creation of an Austin Energy Business Model subcommittee to focus exclusively on moving the ball forward on this issue.

6. Institute a transportation impact fee. Austin needs to start charging developers for the strain they put on the city’s transportation system, Adler said. He pointed to Fort Worth’s transportation impact fees, which went into effect in 2008, as a possible model for Austin. The idea behind these fees is essentially to let growth pay for itself.

7. Utilize social impact bonds to fund city initiatives. These low-interest bonds could be offered to the public to help pay for innovative city programs that often have difficulty securing funding in more traditional ways. Adler explained that these bonds could help the city to deal with major social problems, like gentrification and affordability, in new and exciting ways. 

8. Spend more time at the State Capitol. Adler promised to spend more time interacting with the state government than any of his predecessors did, ensuring that Austin’s local environmental ordinances are not overturned. 

9. Create a regional transportation plan with a strong public outreach component. Adler talked at length about the failure of Austin’s Prop 1, comparing it the popularity of a transportation plan in Vancouver estimated at $7.5 billion. Although Vancouver’s plan is far more expensive than Austin’s Prop 1, Adler said, it is gaining traction in Canada because it includes projects benefiting residents throughout the region. Prop 1 failed, Adler said, because it only benefited a small section of the city. A larger, more regional transportation plan could encourage Austinites to approve new projects, he concluded.

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