Environmental Law

Brownfield Redevelopment Reduces Greenhouse Gases

By M. Joel Bolstein

According to the Director of California's Department of Toxic Substances Control, Maziar Movassaghi, redeveloping brownfield sites along transit lines or in downtown areas can achieve 25 to 40 percent reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, when compared with building in undeveloped areas.  That is based on studies done by the University of California-Berkeley.  A law in California requires regional planning agencies to meet GHG reduction targets and brownfield redevelopment is seen as a viable means of achieving those targets.  It all makes sense to me.  Brownfield redevelopment along urban corridors can increase the use of public transportation, reducing the number of cars on the road.  New buildings can be built to meet more modern energy efficiency standards or to achieve LEED certification, and they can be designed to use alternative energy, like solar panels.  The California studies and the thinking being employed by the California Department of Toxic Substances are equally applicable in a state like Pennsylvania.  As the federal and state governments begin to implement policies and regulations requiring the reduction of GHG emissions, policy makers in Pennsylvania should take advantage of the fact that we have many brownfields in urban areas and near public transit, and redevelopment of those brownfields should be part of any package of activities implemented to reduce GHG emissions.   

Full post as published by PA Brownfields Environmental Law on July 17, 2009 (boomark / email).