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No. 361

November 24, 1999

Smart Growth at the Federal Trough

EPA's Financing of the Anti-Sprawl Movement

by Peter Samuel and Randal O'Toole

Executive Summary

port for the war on sprawl. With the support of

In January 1999, Vice President Al Gore

these organizations, Vice President Gore and

declared war on sprawl. Like many wars, this

EPA hope to use federal funding and regulato-

one has in fact been going on undeclared for

ry authority to dramatically change the

some time, with the government covertly sup-

lifestyles of most Americans.

plying funds and technical support to sup-

The federal government should not subsi-

posed grassroots organizations.

dize one side of a public policy debate; doing so

Leading the charge in the war on sprawl is

undermines the very essence of democracy.

the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA's

Nor should government agencies fund non-

legal authority over urban land-use planning is

profit organizations that exist primarily to

tenuous at best. Yet under two grant-making

lobby other government agencies. Congress

programs--the Transportation Partners pro-

should shut down the federal government's

gram and the Smart Growth Network--the

anti-sprawl lobbying activities and resist the

agency has laid the groundwork for a major

temptation to engage in centralized social

power grab by giving millions of dollars to

engineering.

nonprofit lobbying groups to build public sup-

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Peter Samuel is the editor of Toll Roads Newsletter and has worked on EPA policies with the George C.

Marshall Institute. Randal O'Toole is the executive director of the Thoreau Institute and an adjunct scholar at the

Cato Institute.