Legal Commentary

Bay Area Air Rule Could Backfire

By Jonathan H. Adler

The NYT reports on a potential environmental backlash against proposed greenhouse gas regulations designed to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings in the San Francisco Bay area.

some environmentalists and city planners fear that the new set of guidelines being considered by the region?s air quality regulators could have an unintended consequence, making it more difficult and more expensive for developers to construct buildings within already urbanized areas.That would run counter to the notion that builders should be given incentives to shift future population growth from the car-dependent outer suburbs to places where public services are already available and public transit is a more viable option to get people out of their cars.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on December 29, 2009 (boomark / email).