While a candidate, Governor Cuomo released an environmental plan —  “Cleaner, Greener New York” — that embraced smart growth but was short on implementation specifics. Now that the election is over, green groups have come together to present 12 Green Memos to the Governor and State Legislature that help to fill in the specifics of Albany’s to-do list. On the whole, the memos are doubly green—focusing on both environmental protection and economic development—and two of them, which deal directly with transportation issues, have been endorsed by TSTC.

“During the campaign Governor Cuomo unveiled his big picture vision for protecting New York’s environment. Our Green Memos fill in the blanks with details and policy proposals that will help the Governor achieve his vision of a ‘cleaner, greener’ New York,” said David Gahl, Policy Director at Environmental Advocates of New York.

The memo that received the most endorsements from the various groups, including that of TSTC, is entitled “Create Liveable, Smart Growth Communities.” The memo states that “one of the best ways to assure environmental protection of our natural resources is to embrace the revitalization of existing cities. In this tight fiscal environment, coupling priority growth centers with sustainable transportation options requires that our limited dollars are spent wisely to encourage land-use patterns that are less resource consumptive.” Specifically, the memo asks that the Governor and Legislature implement the Smart Growth and Public Infrastructure Policy Act, and promote sustainable transportation policy, including advancing Complete Streets legislation and securing transit funding.

The other memo endorsed by TSTC asks Albany to improve and finalize the State Climate Action Plan. As Streetsblog points out, the draft Action plan, released by the Paterson Administration in the November of 2010,  “goes into spectacular detail about how the state might reach the ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels over the next forty years.” The state’s plan includes a plethora of Smart Growth and sustainable transportation policy goals, including expansion of transit, transit-oriented development, Complete Streets, clean fuels, and revenue-generators like congestion pricing and tolling on roads and bridges.

“As the Green Memos demonstrate, smart environmental and transportation policy are inextricable. Governor Cuomo has a unique opportunity to advance smart growth principles in the state—principles that are crucial to our economic future. We look forward to seeing real progress out of the Governor and Legislature this year,” said Kate Slevin, Executive Director, TSTC.