On May 4, 2007 EMBARQ’s Director of Research, Lee Schipper, gave a presentation at the 17th Annual Regional Planning Assembly held in New York City. This year’s conference, held at the swanky Waldorf Astoria hotel, was entitled, “A Bright + Green Future” and touched on the myriad issues surrounding climate change, energy, and growth in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut tri-state region.

(see complete coverage of Schipper’s talk on the EMBARQ website, including a podcast recorded at the event and slides from his presentation)

The event drew a lot of attention because of the recent announcement (to both fanfare and controversy) of Mayor Bloomberg’s “PlaNYC” proposal. Today, Streetsblog.org had a nice post on some of the conference’s workshops, including a number of quotes from Schipper about the siren song of biofuels and the promise of congestion pricing.

Lee also offered insights on broader transportation policy issues. In particular, Schipper emphasized the need for better fuel economy and more modest vehicles (in place of today’s “Urban Assault Vehicles,” as Lee called them). He also advocated paying more attention to land use (and other measures that reduce the need to travel), and an end to subsidies for alternative fuels of any kind.

Read more about Schipper’s views on fuel subsidies and biofuel production.