Ten counties surrounding D.C. and Baltimore could all become cities, resulting in a nightmarish metropolis with more roads, cars, sprawl, two million more people by 2040, another two million by 2060, fewer trees and birds, and one hundred additional Tyson's Corners.

The Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments (WMCOG) and Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC), two agencies established in the 1970s to coordinate federal transportation spending, are orchestrating this vision. WMCOG and BMC strengthen and reinforce the power and the reach of developers, road-builders, and utility companies, creating for them a racket of continuous real estate development.

This system corrupts local and state elections.

Have hope. Virginia's Fauquier, Rappahannock, and Clark counties, as well as Calvert County, Maryland's rural plans, show the way by preserving wildlife, farmland, rivers and the bay, while also fighting climate change. Local citizens groups comprised of environmental liberals and moderate Republicans helped to enact these plans. They overrode pro-development and pro-population growth factions in both their political parties. Other local and national groups can do the same. WMCOG and BMC Problems

1. Their population growth forecasts create perpetual real estate development schemes. Their forecasting models utilize past trends to predict the future. Jurisdictions experiencing excessive development and population growth will be forecasted for more of the same. BMC and WMCOG work with counties to upzone to accommodate the forecasted population. This means development never stops in your community unless you challenge an "old-boys alliance" that places developers in charge.

Fauquier opposed WMCOG's initial 2040 population forecast, reducing it 70%, by 70,000 people!

In contrast, Loudoun County, consistent with WMCOG pro-development philosophies, claims it needs more housing to attract more jobs. However, it doesn't need more jobs if it wouldn't add the 100,000 people it is forecasted to add by 2040. They should telephone Fauquier for downzoning advice. Limiting development and population growth is just what this region and nation need in order to improve and diversity job opportunities. FYI, for example, Germany and Japan have higher quality jobs without high population growth and development.

2. They plan development and population growth without any environmental review.

Environmental review of development and population growth would inform citizens about how it will impact their children. This will prevent it from occurring. WMCOG and BMC do not complete any environmental evaluations of the development induced by their transportation plans and forecasting techniques.

They do not plan for farmland or wildlife habitat. Goodbye butterflies.

The development serviced by WMCOG's transportation plans increases climate change emissions, while they only encourage jurisdictions to take voluntarily measures to address it. They do not.

BMC's website does not mention climate change, yet it is taught in all state schools.

3. Region Forward creates sprawl, harms the cities, and does not create good jobs.

MWCOG's "Region Forward" 2040 plan prescribes a hundred dense growth areas (deceptively called activity centers) to accommodate forecasted population and jobs. WMCOG claims this is better than the sprawl that might otherwise occur. However, the sprawl zoning still exists and it is being built. So are the dense areas.

This regional vision will drain jobs from Baltimore and D.C. by eliminating their market advantage with transit-based high-rise office space.

The majority of this region's good jobs are associated with federal government spending, not population growth and development.

Population growth and real estate development are creating mostly low-paying jobs, nationwide. Existing jobs aren't improving. This phenomenon is playing out on this region's land use stage, which comes as no surprise given how WMCOG and BMC primarily serve real estate development interest groups reaping enormous profits by perpetuating an environmentally disastrous low-paying economy.

Revoke the population forecasts. Reform WMCOG and BMC.