January 3, 2020
Statement from Josh Tulkin, Director of Maryland Sierra Club, in response to announcement that Comptroller Peter Franchot had reached a compromise with Governor Hogan to support proposed highway expansion.
"Sierra Club statement in response to announcement of Peter Franchot compromise with Governor Hogan.
We are disappointed that, earlier today Peter Franchot announced that he had reached a compromise with Governor Hogan to support his proposed highway expansion. While the amendments Peter Franchot secured offer some improvement, the proposal remains flawed. This compromise will allow this flawed plan to advance, setting us further down the wrong (paved) path.
In the last few weeks, Peter Franchot and MDOT Action Secretary Greg Slater have pledged increased transparency and community participation. But actions speak louder than words. No new data has been released for public review. We have not seen any change to the fuzzy math used to justify highway expansion as being good for the climate. And yet again, the BPW has dropped in a proposal at the last minute.
The proposed amendments are improvements, and credit should be given to the counties and communities who demanded to be heard. The amendment would likely result in earlier funding to the counties and build them into the process via MOU. But the commitments to transit remain vague, and MDOT has not earned the public's trust to simply say "trust us, we'll work out the details later".
Transportation is the leading source of climate pollution in Maryland. Our transportation strategy must, first and foremost, focus on reducing vehicle miles traveled and expanding mass transit. There hasn’t been any time in recent history when there were no transit projects in Maryland Transit Administration’s pipeline.
In his statement, Comptroller Peter Franchot says that the agreement "commitment by the state to work directly with our local government to mitigate any environmental and community impacts stemming from the project". Such a claim in both inaccurate and irresponsible. The proposal contains no commitment to any greenhouse gas goals, and carbon pollution is not something that MDOT can "mitigate".
In this New Year of 2020, we need to be honest about global warming and the impacts of our actions. You cannot expand highways and magically mitigate the carbon pollution. And the more people claim otherwise, the less credible they become.
We urge Greg Slater, who has been appointed (but not yet confirmed) as the Secretary of Transportation, with take a fresh look at the big picture. We need a new course, not last decade’s proposal with a new coat of paint."
https://www.sierraclub.org/node/546371