Attack Moves From Trucks to Passenger Vehicles: No Free Parking

Senator Alan Lowenthal is a hypocrite. He is one of the many Senators that are responsible for the continued existence of CARB but more than that, he has too much time on his hands. Time he uses to craft legislation like SB518, now making its way through the Senate. Make no mistake, this bill is designed to get you out of your car and on to public transportation. It contains pages of new rules and regulations that will make it difficult and expensive for you to drive to the places that you need to go. Once you get to your destination, there will be no place to park--and even if there is a parking place, this bill will make sure that the fee to park will be expensive.

Imagine if you will, the arrogance of a Senator telling everyone to use public transportation while still carting his fat butt to the office in a car. He is much to important to travel with the public. Have you ever seen the Senator using public transportation for his daily tasks? Well, actually you have. You see the public pays for his car and his gas. While he expects you and me to spend extra time commuting via public transportation, and to make multiple trips on public transportation to do grocery shopping--one or two bags at a time, Lowenthal is a high paid Senator who continues to feed at the public trough. For him, money is no object. He can still drive to work or go to the supermarket and pay expensive parking fees because he is paid by the public. For everybody else, he says use public transportation.

This bill is co-sponsored by Loni Hancock, another "useless waste of skin", who has been at the forefront of preventing additional clean nuclear energy in the State of California. These two, and those who voted yes need to be thrown out of office. If you are in a district served by one of the Senators that think SB518 is a good idea, it is time to make a sign for your car or yard. Tell others not to vote for these people who tell you how you must live, while themselves living in the way that you want.

Here are some excerpts from the bill in its current form. These are the stated justifications for the bill. You can download the entire bill and read the regulations here. You can follow its progress at "State Surge".

   (b) In 2006, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed Assembly Bill 32 (Chapter 488 of the Statutes of 2006; hereafter AB 32), which requires the State of California to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels no later than 2020. According to the State Air Resources Board, in 1990 greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles and light trucks were 108 million metric tons, but by 2004 these emissions had increased to 135 million metric tons.

   (c) Greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles and light trucks can be substantially reduced by new vehicle technology and by the increased use of low carbon fuel. However, even taking these measures into account, it will be necessary to achieve significant additional greenhouse gas reductions by reducing vehicle miles traveled. Without those reductions, California will not be able to achieve the goals of AB 32.

   (d) In addition, automobiles and light trucks account for 50 percent of air pollution in California and 70 percent of the state’s consumption of petroleum. Reducing vehicle trips will also help reduce criteria pollutant emissions that are regulated by the state and federal clean air acts and reduce the state’s dependence on petroleum.

   (e) California has five of the top 13 most traffic congested metropolitan areas in the United States. Pricing strategies, such as parking pricing, are the most effective way to achieve lasting reductions in traffic congestion by permanently reducing roadway demand. On a congested street, eliminating just 10 percent of vehicles can result in free-flowing traffic.

   (f)  The existence of “free” parking is a significant factor that encourages vehicle trips. At employment sites, employer-paid parking increases rates of driving by as much as 22 percent. Conversely, employee-paid parking reduces rates of driving by the same amount.