Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Here's the meat of a press release sent out today by the Gov about his new much-anticipated enviro-friendly development policies. As always, the devil will be in the details, but the seriousness of the effort -- making clean energy a development goal -- is clear.

BOSTON—Wednesday, May 16, 2007—After meeting with his Development Cabinet, Governor Deval Patrick today announced a series of changes to the state’s development policies, incorporating clean energy as a key development goal and restructuring certain grant programs to better serve environmental and housing purposes.

 “As we grow our economy, our energy, environmental, housing and transportation policies and initiatives must work in sync,” said Governor Patrick. “Clean energy will be one of our development goals, and our grant programs must achieve their intended results.”

 For the first time, the state’s Sustainable Development Principles now include promoting clean energy, in the form of energy efficiency and renewable power generation, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and consumption of fossil fuels. Other changes encourage the creation of “pedestrian-friendly” districts and neighborhoods that mix commercial, civic, cultural, educational, and recreational activities with parks and homes. In housing, the principles call for building homes “near jobs, transit, and where services, including water supply, are available.” In addition, the principles would “foster the development of housing, particularly multifamily and smaller single-family homes.”

5/16/2007 4:06:41 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |