Although people across the country battle congestion everyday, the aggravation triggered by miles of traffic has yet to fade. Neither has the cloud of car emissions that follows the traffic like cheap cologne. To combat such issues, California is legislating ways to reduce road rage while cutting back greenhouse gas and emissions.

At the end of August, the California legislature passed a bill (SB 375) to cut carbon dioxide emissions through intense housing and transportation planning, and by providing incentives for agencies that do so. The bill essentially creates a quid pro quo system in which regional planning authorities have to set and meet emission-reduction targets in order to receive transportation funding and fewer building restrictions.

After passage, State Senator Darrell Steinberg, the driving force behind the bill, said, "If California is to fully implement AB 32, we must address how our communities grow. SB 375 will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks and improve Californians' quality of life through smart, coordinated regional planning. I urge the Governor to sign SB 375."

SB 375 includes 59 rules and regulations to first identify greenhouse gas emission targets and then formulate plans to zone in on those targets to help California reach its 30 percent pollution reduction goal by 2020. The targets will foster a policy environment at the city government level in which cleaner cars and better infrastructure to ease the commuting process will be advanced along with smart growth strategies that place new homes near public transit. Special attention would be given to more efficient land use, as more areas will be designated "resource areas" to capture carbon from the air.

Supporters are hoping that incentives will lure the 18 metropolitan planning organizations across California to step up and get their communities involved.

"I call it a coalition of the impossible," remarked Steinberg, mirroring a comment of Tom Adams, the president of the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV), an organization that is also a sponsor.

Impossibility appears to be a theme as the bill's timeline illustrates something almost impossible to find in government lately: quick results.

But nothing is set in stone, as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has yet to sign the bill.

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