A Green Plan Proposal

Something that I have not seen discussed in the legislation being considered to goad us into reducing our carbon dioxide emissions is the issue of root causes. In other words, why are we driving all over everywhere? Well, in part I'm sure it's because we are just lazy, I know I am. In part though I think it's also because stuff is so far away.

We don't live in very dense environments in Canada (for obvious reasons, this is still a country with lots of room). Inevitably though that means that for too many people in too many places the car is simply the sine qua non of modern life. Whatever price increases are incurred, we'll keep buying cars simply because many of us feel we have to.

Here's another problem: Canada's cities say that they are underfunded. They probably are. How about having the feds develop a fund that grants money to cities on the basis of hitting density goals? Denser cities are the ones that are more walkable, things are closer together. Encouraging efficient land use is surely a way to cut back on carbon dioxide emissions, isn't it? (Another way is make the tar sands people actually cut their emissions, but that's another, well-commented-on story.)

Is this sensible or I am way off?