Leading the charge in the war on sprawl is the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA’s legal authority over urban land-use planning is tenuous at best. Yet under two grant-making programs–the Transportation Partners program and the Smart Growth Network–the agency has laid the groundwork for a major power grab by giving millions of dollars to nonprofit lobbying groups to build public support for the war on sprawl. With the support of these organizations, Vice President Gore and EPA hope to use federal funding and regulatory authority to dramatically change the lifestyles of most Americans.
The federal government should not subsidize one side of a public policy debate; doing so undermines the very essence of democracy. Nor should government agencies fund nonprofit organizations that exist primarily to lobby other government agencies. Congress should shut down the federal government’s anti-sprawl lobbying activities and resist the temptation to engage in centralized social engineering.
