MTA Uses The Environment To Get More Money Out Of NYers

As many of you probably know, the MTA is getting read to raises rates by 23 percent. If the state comes through and bails them out, it will only be a mere 8 percent increase, but that's still another knock at our wallets in the upcoming year. None of this is supposed to improve service, only keep it at the poor quality we get now (or worse). Now they are looking at even more ways of bringing in more money, one of which is an environmental appeal to those that use the MTA, whether by mass transit or by car.

From The NY Times:

The authority said on Thursday that it was considering a “green MetroCard” program that would let riders make donations to help pay for making its operations more environmentally sustainable. The program would also apply to commuter rail tickets and E-ZPasses.

The idea was among dozens of proposals in a $1 million report by a commission appointed by the authority to recommend ways to lessen the adverse environmental impact of its operations.

Under the program, whose details are still being developed, riders buying MetroCards or commuter rail tickets at station vending machines could tack on an extra charge in the form of a tax-deductible contribution for green projects, said Ernest Tollerson, the authority’s policy director.

If they actually make it tax-deductible that would be fantastic. Though my confidence in them to do that is slim to nil. Now if they'd actually use those funds to "green" the system, I find that to be next to impossible. The MTA has always set money aside from one project to contribute to another or just a simple transfer to their general fund. If they truly wanted to make our mass transit more fuel efficient, they'd do it from their budget and not ask straphangers for more cash than they already demand of us.

CA Shows Putting Earth First Leads To Green Jobs

One of the fearmongering tactics that oil companies have used in the past about relying on alternative energy "too quickly" is that many people would be out of work. Well when you shut down a refinery there are job losses, but so many opportunities can come from it when you add in clean energy sources, conservation and recycling. California has proven that over the last thirty years since they instituted energy-efficient guidelines, much to the dismay of the fossil fuel industry.

From The NY Times:

OAKLAND, Calif. — California’s energy-efficiency policies created nearly 1.5 million jobs from 1977 to 2007, while eliminating fewer than 25,000, according to a study to be released Monday.

The study, conducted by David Roland-Holst, an economist at the Center for Energy, Resources and Economic Sustainability at the University of California, Berkeley, found that while the state’s policies lowered employee compensation in the electric power industry by an estimated $1.6 billion over that period, it improved compensation in the state over all by $44.6 billion.

Built into that figure were increases of $1.2 billion in the light industrial sector, $11.2 billion in wholesale and retail trade, $7.3 billion in the financial and insurance sectors and $17.8 billion in the service sector.

“Consumers were able to reduce energy spending,” the study said, adding that “these savings were diverted to other demand.”

Imagine that! If we didn't shove piles of money into Big Oil's hands we'd have more to spend on the larger economy. Well it doesn't take an economist to figure that out, but showing us just how much of an impact environmental regulation can have is truly impressive. Van Jones isn't kidding when he talks about the Green-Collared Economy. Not only can we help save our planet, but we can slowly reshape our petro-based world into an eco-friendly globe.