Shelley Housing/Homelessness Q2
The government’s role is the problem, not the solution. The effect of climate-related regulations on housing construction is the subject of a lawsuit against the California Air Resources Board by a group called The Two Hundred, a statewide coalition led by civil rights and social justice advocates. The lawsuit notes that “California’s climate policies guarantee that housing, transportation and electricity prices will continue to rise, while ‘gateway’ jobs to the middle class for those without college degrees, such as manufacturing and logistics, will continue to locate in other states.”
CARB is an unaccountable public agency that makes and enforces regulations most Californians don’t know about, and yet these rules and hurdles prevent housing construction that regulators consider to be unacceptable suburban “sprawl,” even if homebuyers might consider those potential communities to be an ideal and affordable place to live.
The state government’s insistence on urban infill instead of exurban growth is driving up the cost of housing. Is it worth it? All of California accounts for only 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions. How much should Californians be made to suffer in order to reduce those emissions, and at what point do Californians have the right to ask if these state climate policies meet any reasonable test of cost-effectiveness?
