Opinion: Montgomery can do more than spout platitudes on climate and walkability

Many Montgomery County residents pride themselves on living in a progressive place. Our county government has a Climate Action Plan that promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2027 and 100 percent by 2035. Looking around at the ever-bigger SUVs that dominate the roads, you’d think this seems an implausible goal. Because transportation is the single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in this country, you’d imagine Montgomery County must be engaged in a massive effort to encourage walking and biking for transportation. And in another ambitious initiative, the county government has promised zero pedestrian and biker fatalities by the end of 2030. But if anything, we seem to be going backward.