Under the criteria, to be used as part of evaluating the Climate Smart Communities scenarios, Metro staffers will look at how proposals for curbing tailpipe emissions would affect things like the economy, public health and social equity.

Several representatives to a region-wide advisory committee said Wednesday that Metro's Climate Smart Communities program is about more than tailpipe emissions, saying it's about what citizens want in their communities.

Whatever their motive, the way business owners from across the Portland region have been cutting back driving costs has been a relief to regional planners, who have to address a state mandate to reduce vehicle emissions.

What will your community look like in 2035? How will our choices today shape how we live, work and get around in the future? Metro wants your opinion.

Planners from the regional government have been working to address a mandate from the Oregon Legislature to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It was unclear Friday if the EPA's proposed standards, if adopted nationwide, would move Metro closer to being able to address the state's mandates.

But without more money to fund those plans, region might not make state's tailpipe emission reduction targets

Regional leaders were brought up to speed on Metro's tailpipe emissions reduction plan Wednesday, as staff working on the Climate Smart Communities project briefed the Metro Policy Advisory Committee.

The emissions study, in its second phase, is a look at how to address a state mandate to curb greenhouse gases from cars, pickups and SUVs in the Portland region. With improvements to fuel economy only partly closing the gap to the state mandate, planners are trying to figure out how to get people to drive less.

In the suburbs, hour-long commutes and mid-day service dropoffs make it hard to justify going somewhere on a bus. Would an increase in service help the region meet a state mandate to reduce tailpipe emissions? If so, can we afford it?

Convened as part of the agency's Climate Smart Communities scenarios project, participants discussed how public transit, mixed use development and encouraging more hybrid cars could effectively create a greener community.

Leaders from Metro are leaning on a mandate from state government to lend legitimacy to the Climate Smart Communities program, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles by 70 percent per capita before 2035. But they'd like to do that by making it so people don't have to do as much driving, by improving access to jobs, stores and restaurants in the suburbs where driving is prevalent.