This past decade has been a remarkable one for the East Coast Greenway. Momentum is on our side as record use inspires record investment to complete our audacious project. But will we fully rise to the challenge in 2020?
In a year that started with unprecedented fires across Australia and continues to be marred by unseasonable warmth throughout our country, the spectre of unmitigated climate change hurting the hundreds of coastal communities we serve and the wildlife we enjoy can be hard to process. But we have to rise to the challenge.
The transportation sector is the top source of emissions in our country. And the East Coast Greenway is critical to reducing polluting car trips by replacing them with biking, walking, and transit from Boston and New York to Durham and Miami. Our country will spend $1 trillion on transportation infrastructure in the decade ahead. It's our job to get .2% of that devoted to completing the East Coast Greenway.
Our decades-long vision is in reach as long as we rise together to the challenge — young and old, fitness junkie and naturalist, Southerner and Yankee, Democrat and Republican, people of all ethnicities, genders, and experiences. What traditional lines of division will you cross this year to move the Greenway forward?
The East Coast Greenway is a necessity that the people of our region deserve so they can access a healthy, sustainable, and high quality of life. How do you plan to make that case to the people around you, from town leaders and presidential candidates to corporate decision-makers and philanthropists?
I look forward to working with you as we rise to the challenge together. A brighter future is in our grasp -- let's take the opportunity of now to get the Greenway done.
Thank you,
Dennis
Dennis Markatos-Soriano, Executive Director
Read more of our February 2020 On the Greenway newsletter
