Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Courtney Costello- Talk Radio News Service

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) held a hearing Tuesday to propose the Sustainable Communities Partnership. This partnership includes Secretary of Transportation (DOT), Ray LaHood, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Shaun Donovan, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson.

The objective of the new alliance will be to publicize efforts to improve affordable housing, promote efficient and low cost transportation options, and to protect the environment during these changes. A $150 million dollar sustainable communities initiative will help fund the partnership.

“As the Chairman said, we need to synchronize climate change, energy, community development, housing and transportation policy in the most comprehensive way possible,” said Secretary Donovan. “Creating an office of sustainable housing and communities inside HUD to serve as a single point of contact with other federal agencies is the best way we can achieve that goal.”

The committee also stated that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will provide momentum with the $1.5 billion discretionary Tiger Grant program. This program will fund the Transportation Act that will promote sustainability and provide better transportation in rural and urban communities around the country.

The proposed program details six principles that will serve as the base for the agencies to work together. These include producing supplementary transportation options, advancing sustainable and affordable housing, increasing economic opportunities, revitalizing current communities, organizing funding and policies and enriching all communities.