Geoff Anderson is a co-chair of the Transportation for America Campaign (T4) and President and CEO of Smart Growth America. T4 is a national coalition of transportation, housing, environmental, public health, and other organizations committed to creating a national transportation program that will take America into the 21st century by building a modernized infrastructure and healthy communities where people can live, work and play.
Anderson came to his current position in January 2008 after 13 years at the US EPA where he headed the Agency's Smart Growth Program. During his tenure at EPA, he was instrumental in creating the Agency's Smart Growth program, he helped to found the Smart Growth Network, the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, and the popular web site smartgrowth.org. In addition, he provided seed funding for and helped to catalyze the creation of the National Vacant Properties Campaign, The LEED for Neighborhood Development Certification program, and the Governors' Institute for Community Design.
Anderson has co-authored numerous publications including: This Is Smart Growth, Getting to Smart Growth Volumes 1 and 2, Protecting Water Resources with Higher Density Development, The Transportation and Environmental Impacts of Infill vs. Greenfield Development and many others. His work also included direct technical assistance, helping with smart growth implementation in communities nationwide including Cheyenne, WY, Prince George's County, MD, and the flagship smart growth project Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Ga.
Anderson received a Masters Degree from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment with a concentration in Resource Economics and Policy.
If we are going to answer this question, we have to push aside the partisan back-and-forth, and pay more attention to which kinds of projects the states are choosing to fund. This is ultimately a question of how well states are spending money. The states’ choices determine how many jobs the stimulus is creating, and how fast. States’ choices also determine whether the stimulus will either help solve or exacerbate the problems plaguing our transportation system. Investments in road and bridge repairs and clean transportation options create more jobs, faster, than highway expansion projects. The data have shown this… Read more
The American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment proposal coming out of the House Appropriations Committee today fails to move America forward in reducing our oil dependency, creating opportunity for all Americans, and making us competitive for the 21st Century economy. The House Appropriations has two key shortcomings, especially in comparison to the superior proposal put forward last week by Congressman Oberstar, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee: First, the proposal only pays lip service to ensuring that the recovery bill puts Americans back to work by maintaining and repairing our crumbling roads and bridges. Without explicit language… Read more
President-elect Barack Obama recently unveiled his vision for rebuilding our economy through his “American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan,” which he had previously vowed would help deliver “a new infrastructure that is necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st Century.” The President-elect has emphasized accountability in a generalized way, ruling out “earmarks” and calling for speedy action. Several recent news stories have seized on apparent contradictions within these impulses and raised critical questions: Can we spend this money both quickly and wisely? Can the existing transportation apparatus, geared as it is toward highway-building, deliver on the incoming administration’s… Read more
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} The Secretary of Transportation is not a position historically known for its ability to wield the authority or attract the same level of attention as other shinier Cabinet slots. Yet given the expansive nature of Obama’s ambition to create millions of jobs through infrastructure investment that seems likely to change. Congressman LaHood will immediately face immense challenges, but also tremendous opportunities to help chart a new course for America.… Read more
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} The answer is yes – America is at a crossroads with a struggling economy, limited transportation options, and growing concerns over oil dependence and climate change. Now is not the time to squander money on plans that do not help save Americans money, free us from oil dependence and create long-term jobs. Instead, we must do what America has always done in times of trouble: build… Read more
The next Congress and Administration are right to seek an economic recovery package — projected to exceed $300 billion — that includes infrastructure spending to create jobs and boost our economy. When it comes to transportation, however, infrastructure spending could do more harm than good if it goes primarily toward building bigger roads rather than the clean transportation network we need for a truly “green” recovery. The key goals of this investment should be to preserve America’s existing highway and transit networks, while giving our growing nation more options for getting around, in turn allowing Americans to use less gasoline.… Read more
Related Link: http://www.t4america.org
