Toll Road
Once again, the greens are running amok and their tunnel vision is stopping progress at any cost, and they are using political outsiders to undo the work of no fewer than a dozen local, regional, state and federal agencies.
The target: the expansion of the Foothill (241) Toll Road, which plays a key role in the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s vehicle emission reduction plan and is a key artery for traffic relief and emergency response.
Yes, you read that right. The 241 is part of the district’s regional air quality management plan. And, without the road, the region is in danger of violating federal air-quality attainment standards and losing millions of dollars in federal funding for congestion relief.
For what? To preserve habitat for a tiny mouse and a species of toad, endangered more by feral cats than vehicles.
Planning for the toll road started in 1981,26 years ago. It has been mired in controversy at the hands of environmental activists for that entire period.
Environmentalists have tried every possible tactic to stop or delay construction of the road. They have sought San Diego Congresswoman Susan Davis and fellow Democrat Loretta Sanchez to sneak a last minute amendment into a federal defense spending bill to stop the extension.
This last minute tactic has angered many of my constituents who see this attack as dirty politics. I agree with them. This project has been under scrutiny for years and has been subject to environmental reviews under both federal and state law.
All of those assessments came to the same conclusion: No other alternative route offers the same benefits in traffic congestion relief and emission reduction with less environmental impact.
Sanchez doesn’t regularly commute on OC highways. It is easy for her and her Democrat colleagues in Washington to rise above the traffic and congestion and expound their noble goal of building no new highways and finding alternative modes of transportation.
Sanchez and her liberal colleagues want a more environmentally sensitive plan, but nothing could be more environmentally damaging than cars taking an hour or more to travel 10 miles or veering off the highway to cut through neighborhoods, leaving a trail of exhaust in their wake.
OC residents also need to watch out for Bay area Democrats, such as Assembly Member Jared Huffman, who are trying to thwart extensive state and local planning for roads within OC and other parts of California with legislation like AB 1457.
This bill would prohibit a state or local agency from funding or authorizing construction of a road that will physically encroach upon, traverse, bisect or impair a park, even if the park is not owned by the state, unless the director of the Department of Parks & Recreation declares there are no other options.
Environmentalists have changed their mantra from “go local” to “go wherever we can get the votes” to accomplish their objectives.
The problem is that in Sacramento and Washington, they most likely have the votes to put “green” concerns above all else, despite what might be best for local communities.
Dick Ackerman
Senate Republican Leader,
Senate District 33
Al Gore
With apologies to Time magazine, Al Gore may not be tempted to run for president. But millions of Americans wish he was (“The Last Temptation of Al Gore,” May 28).
After six months of intensive campaigning coast to coast, a recent USA Today/Gallup Poll shows Sen. Barack Obama beating Sen. Hillary Clinton by a single percentage point, 30% to 29%, if the contest includes Gore.
Without the former vice president in the mix, Clinton bests Obama by a single point, 37% to 36%. Guess who comes in third with 17%?
Without a doubt, the Democratic debate from New Hampshire a few weeks back was much livelier than the first one from South Carolina. Still, I don’t believe many voters will remember much of what was said at Saint Anselm College.
What would be memorable is if the former vice president agreed to participate in the next debate. Not as a contender but as the moderator. I’m no ratings genius, but I am sure this would be a blockbuster.
And should the topic be just the environment, Gore would be the perfect host.
To their credit, each Democratic presidential candidate has an environmental platform, not that anyone would know it from the number of times the topic was discussed at the debate last month.
What Gore can do is help give life to what largely has been avoided to date. That is a thoughtful, thorough conversation about energy independence, greenhouse gasses, nuclear power, carbon footprints,and how each will impact the next president’s decision-making in the short run and American prosperity over the long haul.
I don’t own a crystal ball, so I can’t say for certain who would or wouldn’t participate in the debate. What I do know is environmental protection rates high among voters. Besides the war in Iraq specifically or the war on terror in general, few issues consistently move the electorate like offshore oil drilling or coal-burning power plants.
To set the record straight, I am an unabashed Gore supporter. Even though I have helped several of the Democratic presidential candidates raise money this year, my hope is the former vice president throws his hat in the ring soon.
The good news is I am not alone. My friend, Orange County developer Michael Ray, and former President Jimmy Carter are supporters. So is New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a possible candidate himself. The mayor recently said, “I hope Al Gore enters the race; I think it would be good for the country.”
If he does, count me in. If not, then I trust Gore will play a key, public role in helping to elect the nation’s 44th president.
Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach
