Southern California Missing the Point on Global Warming

Rick Cole, 2007 Charter Award juror and city manager of Ventura, CA, writes a poigniant criticism in the Los Angeles Times of Southern California's planning techniques and environmental strategies. The state remains overwelmingly suburban and auto-centric, and while some developers try to densify L.A., transportation funds continue to be allocated towards freeways and not mass transit. Cole makes a strong point about how fashionable environmentalism, prevalent among L.A.'s celebrity residents, will not reduce air pollution - but sustainable transit planning will.

Cole is featured as one of Governing Magazine's 2006 Public Officials of the Year.