Eugene Wilson, a critic of the current freeway expansion project, released documents from a draft California Air Resources Board report indicating that Santa Barbara is projecting the highest per capita increase in carbon dioxide emissions-15 percent-of any region in the state over the next 30 years. According to the draft report, the increased emissions stem from the increased traffic on the wider freeway. Gregg Hart of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG), the agency responsible for the freeway widening, expressed skepticism that the figures were accurate. “This is just a draft report, and the preliminary numbers defy logic. We’re not doing anything worse than anybody else. Look at Ventura County. Do they have some green agenda?” Wilson has sued SBCAG repeatedly, claiming that the freeway-widening plan violated state law pertaining to environmental review.
