Its admittedly a stretch to write a legitimate cycling story about this historic election. But the stretch might not be quite as far as you think. It was widely reported that the economic crisis was the top issue on voter’s minds as they cast their ballots. Tied closely into this discussion was the debate over energy and environmental impact. And with ballots cast and counted, it is clear that America rejected “Drill Baby Drill” as the way to continue moving forward. Instead, voters endorsed Obama’s New Energy for America plan which has an unmistakable undertone of less is more. Specifically, Obama’s idea of more livable communities includes sketches of a plan to use federal funds to nudge cities away from a car dominated past.

Just months ago, talk of Copenhagenizing our cities might have sounded like a treehugging fairytale. But that was before the president-elect transformed “Yes We Can,” and directly challenged this country to live up to itself.

Below are the relevant excerpts from his platform.

Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities. Over the long term, we know that the
amount of fuel we will use is directly related to our land use decisions and development patterns.
For the last 100 years, our communities have been organized around the principle of cheap
gasoline. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that we must devote substantial resources to
repairing our roads and bridges. They also believe that we must devote significantly more
attention to investments that will make it easier for us to walk, bicycle and access other
transportation alternatives. They are committed to reforming the federal transportation funding
and leveling employer incentives for driving and public transit.

Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities:

Require States to Plan for Energy Conservation: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will require
governors and local leaders in our metropolitan areas to make “energy conservation” a required part
of their planning for the expenditure of federal transportation funds.