"Hope for the best, plan for the worst. The city of Seattle is already embarked on this course -- especially with its pledge to reduce emissions from cars, trucks, SUVs and buses along the lines of the Kyoto Protocol.

That's all great, but the critical nature of climate change makes me wonder if some of our changes ought to be completely structural. I see the Alaskan Way Viaduct as a metaphor for new thinking.

The current state law -- the one just enacted -- requires that highway-replacement money cannot fund any alternative if it "could have the effect of reducing roadway capacity." But what if it's in our greater interest, right now at this time in history, to do just that?

Roadway capacity, at least to me, means more cars, SUVs and trucks -- vehicle traffic that is not likely to move Seattle any nearer to the Kyoto Protocol targets.

But beyond the new highway, when I expect the worst, I wonder if the region is sufficiently planning for the sea-wall replacement (and its actual costs)."

Get the Story:
Mark Trahant: Climate change calls for wiser planning (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 4/23)

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