Hawthorne Bridge back in August.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and the House Democratic Caucus have announced the formation of the Livable Communities Task Force (LCTF). Blumenauer has been named Chairman of the Task Force, which has a mission to,
“…identify the ways in which the federal government affects community livability as well as the means by which the federal government can be a better partner in enhancing quality of life.”
Among the ways Blumenauer plans to tackle this mission is to reduce the nation’s dependence on oil, protect the environment, improve public health, and invest in housing and transportation projects that “create jobs and give people more commuting choices.”
In a statement released this morning about the LCTF, Blumenauer said,
“When I first came to Congress thirteen years ago, people looked at me curiously whenever I used the term livability. Today, not only are policymakers talking about how to make our communities more livable, but we have an administration that has established a Partnership for Sustainable Communities… this new Democratic Task Force will play a vital role in coordinating with the administration to improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in communities big and small, urban and rural.”
The Task Force has 20 members and they plan to work with the Obama Administration by holding briefings and strategy sessions on a variety of issues from climate change and energy legislation to the pending re-authorization of the transportation bill.
For more information, visit the LCTF’s website and read a a guest post from Blumenauer published this morning on Streetsblog.