New Housing Is Being Blamed for Global Warming – Why?

By W. Wes Keusder
Chair - California Building Industry Association
(originally printed in the Sept-Oct issue of California Builder)

At a time when California still needs between 220,000 and 240,000 new homes and apartments every year just to keep pace with our state’s population growth, some policy-makers have decided that they should impose immediate further restrictions on housing because building housing contributes to global warming.

In fact, our Attorney General recently filed a lawsuit challenging San Bernardino County’s general plan and is warning other jurisdictions that their plans may be targeted as well unless they take the impacts of climate change into account when planning for growth.

Never mind the fact that the landmark law that will govern how California deals with carbon dioxide emissions doesn’t even take effect until 2012. Never mind that the science and guidelines to reduce emissions don’t even exist. Never mind that the Attorney General didn’t sue his department, or the state government, or the car industry, or the tourist industry, or any other segment of the state society who are all responsible for this problem and the solution.

And never mind the fact that the state’s population is expected to keep growing by some 500,000 people a year for the next three decades. Or that the downturn in homebuilding is already causing serious economic effects. Or that a new study shows how much state and local governments benefit from new-home construction.

CBIA and our members are willing to do their share of the planning and implementation of reasonable solutions to global warming. And we’re committed to working hard to educate and inform policy-makers about the impacts these premature global warming lawsuits would have on homeownership and the economy. Because one thing’s for sure - stopping the building of the American dream isn’t the cure for global warming.