Issues: Past Position Statement 4

The Cozzone/Scott Four-Part Action Plan
for Protecting & Improving Chester County's Environment

…developed with the generous help of Dianne Herrin • Treasurer, The Cozzone/Scott Team

1. Climate Change Action

   Global climate change, and our contribution to it, is not at issue. What is at issue is how we must respond. Time is growing short, and local governments must rise to this challenge, given the dearth of environmental leadership at the federal level. We will:
   • Ensure Fast Progress of the Global Warming Task Force. With the urging and help of Bill and Kathi, the Commissioners voted to form this task force on September 6, 2007. The real work, however, is yet to be done. Strong, visionary leadership is very much needed. We will provide this leadership, and we will make this committee a top priority by:
     • Ensuring a forward-looking strategy. We will not enable the committee to look back and waste time questioning what we already know about global warming
     • Ensuring a strong focus on conservation. We fully realize that even the best efforts at replacing our current energy needs with alternative sources is not a complete answer. Conservation is key
     • Requiring courageous and progressive solutions that make a difference for our environment and our economy
     • Ensuring adherence to an aggressive timeline by conducting regular review sessions with task force leaders
     • Offering necessary County resources to the committee
     • Ensuring full communication with and input of the business and agricultural communities
     • Learning from the lessons of prior, similar efforts now underway in Montgomery County and West Chester Borough, and work to secure the involvement of every municipality in the County and
     • Ensuring that all future construction of County facilities are energy efficient.
   • Promote Urban Center Revitalization and fight sprawl. Research shows that urban development is both a key contributor to climate change and a key factor in combating it. Our sprawling development requires citizens to drive to get nearly anywhere, and researchers project a 59% increase in miles driven between 2005 and 2030 if development continues at the current pace. Even if the most stringent fuel-efficiency proposals take effect, global warming pollution from vehicles will be 40% above 1990 levels in 2030.

     Suburban sprawl is taking us in the wrong direction in terms of climate change and quality of life. We must build places where people can accomplish more with less driving, where people can walk to the grocery, the recreation center and movie theatre. These full-service communities reduce driving by a third or more. They create a stronger sense of community. They can make us healthier, they are good for our wallets, and they save open spaces.

     The potential for urban center revitalization here in Chester County is profound. The good news is that the majority of future housing demand lies in smaller homes and lots, townhouses, and condominiums in neighborhoods where jobs and activities are nearby. Kathi and Bill will:

     • Conduct urban center forums with the development and business communities, municipalities and residents to advance a strong vision
     • Prioritize County grants and funds to municipalities that promote smart growth and compact urban planning
     • Use the Commissioners' office as a platform for renewing public transportation priorities Countywide
     • Champion a regional planning vision that will help municipalities work together to foster density in shared urban centers.

     Nobody understands this better or has more experience with urban center management than the Cozzone/Scott Team! Click here for The Cozzone Scott Plan for Chester County (Managed Growth).

   • Take Quick Action in Our First 100 Days. The Cozzone/Scott Team will put into action immediate measures to reduce the County's CO₂ emissions, while saving money. We call this our "low-hanging fruit list," and it's easy to pick! This will enable us to make changes fast and will help the County begin to serve as a model for the community. To do so, we will recruit the aid of our great resources within County government, as well as Chester County citizens and businesspeople who have already demonstrated their expertise and dedicated substantial time and effort to making these kinds of changes. We will reveal our action plan in our first 100 days of office.

   • Promote a vision of Chester County as the "Silicon Valley of Alternative Energy." There is great economic development potential in the clean and alternative energy industries, and we will support Governor Rendell's efforts to make southeastern Pennsylvania—and Chester County—a hub of alternative energy industry. Conergy, the world's leading solar integration company, already has an engineering subsidiary in Malvern, and the past three years have proven that this industry segment can be a cornerstone of a progressive economy. Kathi and Bill support this vision and will promote it through the County's land planning and granting capabilities.

2. Clean Air

   While greenhouse gas pollution is our number one environmental priority, there are other air quality issues that also degrade quality of life and require action. Poor air quality directly affects our health, and our children's health. Communities cannot be livable and sustainable unless they are clean. We fully realize that these issues are beyond the direct scope and power of County government. However, we also realize that the office of Commissioner offers a public platform for advocacy, and the Cozzone/Scott Team will advocate for improvements in:
   • Ground-level ozone pollution. Chester County has been designated as one of the most polluted counties in the nation when it comes to ground-level ozone, receiving a grade of "F" from the American Lung Association. This poses a serious health risk to the 43 percent of the County's population with asthma, cardiovascular disease, chronic bronchitis, diabetes, and other conditions. And while ground-level ozone results from sources that are beyond the oversight of County government—such as coal-fired power plants, industrial emissions, residential emissions and transportation—The Cozzone/Scott Team will use the office of Chester County Commissioner and the expertise of our Planning Department to advocate firmly for cleaner air. In addition, our shared vision of Chester County as the "Silicon Valley of Alternative Energy" will keep clean air as a priority. The Cozzone/Scott Team will advocate not only for alternative energy, but for clean alternative energy.

   • Particle pollution is one of the most dangerous air pollutants. It triggers heart attack, stroke and respiratory irritation, and it worsens asthma, which already affects so many children in our County. Kathi and Bill will work to ensure that the Global Warming Task Force considers the effect of its initiatives on particulate pollution. As part of its "First 100 Days" plan, Cozzone/Scott will also ensure that local, state and other incentives to promote cleaner-running technologies for the County fleet, including particulate filtration, are duly considered and given priority.

3. Water and Stream Protection

   Kathi Cozzone and Bill Scott realize rapid and poorly planned development is the main threat to the County's watershed and stream health. An overabundance of impervious surfaces—like parking lots and even lawns—prevents water from infiltrating into the soil, causing it to accumulate and run off in large quantities into our streams. Along the way, it scours the landscape and carries pollutants directly into the watershed. Without healthy watersheds, nature is unable to replenish and purify the water, which we need to sustain our fish population, our underlying ecosystem and our drinking water. And, as Downingtown and other residents know, this overdevelopment causes flooding, which in turn causes suffering and economic loss.

   As your Chester County Commissioners, Cozzone and Scott will:

   • Harness the expert resources that already exist in the Planning and Water Resources Management areas of County government to step up educational efforts for builders, municipalities, and residents

   • Champion a deliberate regional planning program, so municipalities can work together to minimize overdevelopment. This is critical, since multiple municipalities often share the same watershed; yet, many of these individual municipalities plan development separately. To make matters worse, they are required by law to provide for all types of zoning. This is why you might see a retail shopping center with a large drug store literally within walking distance of another. Kathi and Bill are strongly dedicated to moving Chester County beyond this piecemeal approach to land planning and zoning. We will do so by promoting use of a rather new change in the law that allows municipalities to join forces and plan as one entity. We will empower our County personnel and other dedicated Chester Countians to advocate for our municipal governments to join forces

   • Evaluate the County's municipal funding allocation and provide priority to municipalities that take strong efforts to rationalize development and mitigate stormwater runoff

   • Work to hold developers accountable for constructing and maintaining proper stormwater management structures

   • Strengthen the County's model stormwater ordinance and stand behind townships that implement similarly strong ordinances. The current Aichele-approved stormwater ordinance language provides inadequate protection for sixty percent of the County's steams.

4. Clean Earth

   The Cozzone/Scott Team realizes that blighted industrial property left vacant for long periods of time can pull an entire community down with it. Brownfields do not produce tax revenue or jobs, they are ugly and hazardous, and they cost communities in terms of security and maintenance. Reclaimed and revitalized sites, to the contrary, can help economically-damaged communities reclaim their independence and quality of life, and they can be a central part of a compact, more energy-efficient community, compatible with our urban center revitalization plan. With three EPA Brownfields Grants already awarded to Chester County, reclamation is an environmental and economic success story that we will continue to develop in full force here in Chester County. As part of our urban center revitalization plan, Cozzone/Scott will work to encourage economic redevelopment of existing brownfields by promoting grants and other funding for these important projects. This is a win-win for the environment, the economy, and our communities.
   
   

   The Cozzone/Scott Team

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   FOUR-PART ACTION PLAN
   for Protecting & Improving Our Environment:

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   Clean Alternative Energy + Energy Conservation + Stopping Sprawl + Smart Urban Center Planning
   
   = More Sustainable, Healthier, Productive Communities

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