Other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. Collects more than 3200 students from across the country participated in a 20 Year Anniversary of cspan studentcam documentary competition, this year we asked students in the next 20 years, what is the most important change you would like to see in america or over the past 20 years, what has been the most important change in america . All this month we are featuring our top 21 winning entries. This years first prize high school used winners as a nin grader from Montgomery Blair high school where cspan is available through podcast. Theyre winni documentary is titled the promise of langley park, Climate Change and reimagining the teacher of america suburbs. We know that Good Transportation can empower and it can connect. We also know that transportation dollars, if they are used in the wrong way, can do just as much to harm and to divide. One of the coolest things about my school is the area around it. We are just north of our Nations Capital and washington, d. C. And we are part of cityscapes connected by cross of nature roads that shed for nearly five miles. From early in the morning until late at night, you always see people out and about. You can join in on any activities, access any service and enjoy any type of food and meet people from just about any place in the world. In 2027 our area will be the center of a new light rail line. The purple line is currently under construction. As the first can connecting to d. C. s metrorail and its no ordinary line. Historically subway lines have radiated out way in center cities. The purple line goes laterally from east west and its believed to be the first major line in the country to connect suburb to suburb. This is a big deal for all kinds of social, economic and political reasons. But most importantly because of Climate Change. At the time of freak snowstorms in texas, record heat waves in alaska and widespread drought in the southwest, to have any chance of stopping the acceleration of Climate Change in the next 20 years we will need more projects like this in the United States that will transform america suburbs into something more like urban cores, walkable with high density in a strong transit. But to do this right, we need to make sure we are including the people who live in the areas that are changing. One of the main hubs of the purple line will be in an area called langley park, which is home to many immigrants in central america, africa, asia. This is very can see the promise of the purple line, but you can also see its challenges for the communities that live around it. The idea of urbanizing the suburbs has not been popular in the past. But to understand why its so critical for the future, we need to look at some statistics. First of all, the United States is the second worst country for the production of Greenhouse Gases. The transportation sector counts as a third with passenger cars and trucks making up a half at that period or 16 . But the reality is, we actually produce more Greenhouse Gases from housing and people in the suburbs produce many times were household emissions than their urban counterparts. In cities people often live in apartments, so they are sharing laws, they are showing that sharing ceilings and floors. They are using heat. When you move somebody from a suburban location, to a walkable urban, you cut their Greenhouse Gas emissions between 50 and 80 . Building walkable urban places, the number one thing we could do in this country to address Climate Change. And total energy makes up 20 percent of our Greenhouse Gases in the United States. Thats 36 that we have the ability to control based on where and how we live. The community of langley park was built in the postworld war ii area at an automobile summer suburb for young families. Its a mixture of singlefamily housing and Apartment Building and its dominated by what regional planners call arterial roads that were designed to maximize the movement of cars. The idf or development of langley park wasnt that you were going to walk from one end to the other so you would getting your car and drive from one end to the other. Today there is a huge walking culture but many areas are unsafe for pedestrians. A large percentage of families struggle financially on the run is already high. The will directly connect langley park to wealthier areas. The hope is that this will create a lot of new opportunities for the exchange of people, ideas and jobs. But if went rent goes up after the purple line is built, existing communities will benefit from the development and will be forced to leave. I was born and raised here, i dont want to see our community i dont want to see our culture laws. The Latino Community is strong and continue to do so with the businesses. Dont kick people out, thats all im saying. Quick so far, its been hard on myself, but for most of the people around me. Quick so, what do we need to do to make the urbanization of suburbs a reality and make sure all communities can benefit . The bipartisan infrastructure deal signed into law by President Biden in 21 authorizes 108 ilion dollars for public transportation. The most significant investment in america since the eisenhower interstate highway system. But this money is only a start, we need to reprioritize how those transportation dollars are spent. Right now its kind of like a rule of thumb within the federal budget that 80 of transportation funding goes to highways and 20 goes to transit. I would love to see that flipped. Bike lanes and bike laws and bus service on roads and car infrastructure. We also need to update federal policy related to new so their current residence are not displaced and new residents of all incomes are included. Quakes looking across the country and it resulted in neighborhoods being picked apart the planning decision and we like to think we all learn from that. What happens next will be crucial not only for Climate Change but also for communities like langley park. To watch this and all winning entries, visit our websites at studentcam. Org. A discussion now on democracy