PUBLISHED 9-30-07 ----

A new report linking urban residential sprawl and rising carbon dioxide levels warrants our attention as the 2008 campaign season draws nearer.

The Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington and London, has issued a paper that draws a correlation between residential density, automobile emissions and increased carbon output.

The report concludes that building new homes in compact neighborhoods that have retail stores, schools and services within walking distance could significantly reduce the ever-growing distance that Americans drive on a daily basis. That, in turn, will cut automobile emissions.

The researchers, who reviewed  dozens of regional studies, found that development patterns are both a central contributor to climate change and a vital factor in fighting it.

The findings have huge implications in Bakersfield, where sprawl, leapfrog development and gargantuan lot size are longstanding issues. In recent years, local planners have made commendable efforts to corral harmful and expensive development practices, but elected officials — who are those planners’ bosses and ultimately have the final say — rarely seem to see things the same way.

The bosses’ bosses — voters — need to make their feelings known. Citizens who believe it is time that leaders in the Bakersfield metro area take a more sensible approach to growth and development need to vote where their hearts are.

If preservation of agricultural land is important, if sensible, walkable neighborhoods is important, citizens need to vote where logic directs them. If cleaner air, more navigable streets and a healthier population are important, citizens need to vote with a clear understanding of where the candidates, including the incumbents, stand on planning issues, both theoretically and in practice.

They need to elect leaders who are beholden to the 780,000 residents of metropolitan Bakersfield, not to the developers who continue to impose an ever-widening footprint on the landscape.

No local elected official has publicly announced whether he or she will or will not seek re-election in 2008, but it is possible voters will be asked to decide whether to retain or replace Bakersfield Mayor Harvey Hall and City Council members Sue Benham, Harold Hanson and Jacquie Sullivan. The position of mayor comes before voters June 3, the others in November.

The seats on the Kern County Board of Supervisors currently held by Jon McQuiston, Ray Watson and Michael Rubio also come vacant next year. All three are subject to the June primary.

The Urban Land Institute calculates that jurisdictions that can shift 60 percent of new growth to more compact development patterns will save 85 million annual metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030. The study does not address improvements in other measurable air quality indicators, such as asthma-causing particulate matter, but such gains are clearer part of the overall equation.

Voters can push metro Bakersfield in that direction if they so choose. Remember: We’re the bosses here.