Sign the Climate Smart CRC Pledge of Support

The Columbia River Crossing is a freeway expansion project for I-5 between North Portland and Vancouver.  As conceived, it will increase global warming pollution, harm people’s health, and undermine our region’s vision of a sustainable economy. The CRC will leave us unprepared for the future, while draining billions* of our limited public resources from other important transportation projects.

The Coalition for a Livable Future supports taking a new approach to the Columbia River Crossing (CRC)--an approach that will prepare us for the future. This is a future that requires us to dramatically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions so that we can ensure our health and security. A climate smart CRC will prepare us for this future.

What's at stake?

Our future is at stake.

When this project began over two years ago, the need to take immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions was not clear. Today, the imperative of climate change is clear.

Scientists tell us that we must cut green house gas emissions by 60 to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 for climate stabilization to occur. This means that we must realign all of our public policies and future investments so that they help us reduce our carbon footprint to avoid catastrophic consequences from climate change.

In the case of transportation, which is responsible for over 40% of all regional green house gas emissions, it means we must find a way to reduce the growth in driving, not just support improvements in vehicle and fuel technologies. This mean the CRC, which is our region's biggest, most expensive transportation investment, must help us move in the right direction.

Instead, under the locally preferred alternative, greenhouse gas emissions will increase 32% over today's levels by 2030 (DEIS Energy Technical Report). This is a future that we must prevent.

Ignoring the imperative of climate change in the CRC Project will also deepen inequality in our community. When the freeway was built, it divided neighborhoods and left nearby residents, who are disproportionately low-income and people of color, to deal with air and noise pollution ever since. We know now that living next a freeway makes people sick and can stunt children's growth and development.

Not only will additional freeway lanes lead to more pollution and health problems in I-5 neighborhoods, but global warming will magnify them. Increased temperatures and extreme weather events brought about by global warming will harm most those in our community who are already sick and vulnerable, including the proportionately large number of low-income people of color living along the I-5 Corridor in N/NE Portland and Clark County. And, as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has demonstrated, poor people and people of color are at greatest risk of suffering most when such catastrophes occur.

Lemons to Lemonade - Going Climate Smart

The good news is both Oregon and Washington recently took a critical first step in acting upon this scientific imperative by adopting goals to dramatically reduce greenhouse gases.  The CRC Project must help us reach these goals, rather than undermine them.

We believe our region has the know-how and workforce to meet the challenge of creating a climate smart CRC.

The Portland metropolitan area is known nationally for our forward-thinking land use and transportation, and for being an innovator in the sustainability movement. We can and should seize this moment and capitalize on our sustainability know-how, and be at the forefront of determining how to make transportation projects part of the global warming solution. There is no better place to begin this challenging work than with our biggest transportation project–-the CRC.

A Climate Smart Columbia River Crossing will lead us toward the sustainable economic future we want

The jobs that could be created with a carbon neutral CRC are green collar and green design jobs - the jobs we want for our future. The sustainable transportation expertise we'll build by taking a portion of a freeway and transforming it to meet 21st century needs will have national demand. The green manufacturing--of light rail and new buses--and rehabilitation/construction of smart, green infrastructure, will prepare us for the green economy we say we want. Sustainable industries and green, living wage jobs are our future. We must ensure every public investment leads us toward this future.

What is a Climate Smart Columbia River Crossing?

A Climate Smart CRC would reduce global warming pollution to conform with Oregon's and Washington's climate change goals. To get there, the CRC project must be dramatically reconfigured to give users the ability to drive less, which is the keystone to minimizing the project's carbon footprint. A Climate Smart CRC would reduce all pollutants, re-green the corridor, and give people more transportation choices – all of which offer numerous health benefits. It would also create a more secure future for those who are most vulnerable.

Sign the Climate Smart CRC Pledge of Support