Virginia can no longer afford to do business as usual with its land use and transportation system, a report by a Charlottesville-based environmental group says.

"Virginia is being rapidly transformed," wrote attorney Trip Pollard with the Southern Environmental Law Center in the report, "New Directions: Land Use, Transportation, and Climate Change in Virginia."

The report, which was released today, shows the frequently overlooked connections among roads, land development and the looming issue of global warming, he said in an interview yesterday.

The state can meet the challenges of growth, he said, by changing counterproductive governmental policies.

For instance, Pollard said, public investments in highways now can subsidize scattered development, steering growth away from established communities, while zoning requirements can work against the flowering of traditional neighborhoods.

"Although we've made some progress [in coming to grips with growth's effects] with the governor and the General Assembly in the last couple of years," he said, "they're modest steps -- most of which have not been implemented yet -- that will be totally overwhelmed by the current trends."

During 1990-2000, the state's population rose from just under 6.2 million to more than 7 million. That was the largest population increase in a single decade in Virginia history, he said.

Rapid population growth is likely to continue, he said in the report, with more than 9.8 million people expected to live in the state by 2030.

Transportation is the single largest use of energy in Virginia, he said, and the largest and fastest growing source of carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming.

And Virginia is vulnerable to the effects of climate change because of global warming, Pollard said. These effects, he said, likely include increased drought, more-intense storms and hurricanes, sea-level rise, increased flooding, harm to the Chesapeake Bay, loss of coastal islands and wetlands, beach erosion and species extinction.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, between 1982 and 1997, 784,500 acres were developed in the state for projects such as subdivisions, office parks and highways.

Still, the amount of driving has far outpaced population growth, the report noted.

From 1980 through 2000, the total number of vehicle miles traveled in Virginia escalated by more than 94 percent -- three times the 32 percent population growth during that period.

Between 1985 and 2005, annual highway delays increased more than 229 percent in the Washington area, 183 percent in Hampton Roads, and 434 percent in the Richmond area.

Road building has failed to cure these problems, Pollard said, while sprawling development has fueled more driving and congestion.

Although the state has made steps toward a balanced transportation system in recent years, the bulk of taxpayer funds spent on transportation continues to go to roads, he said.

Virginia's $11 billion improvement program for 2008-2013 earmarks about 80 percent of the money for highway construction.

Contact Peter Bacqué at (804) 649-6813 or pbacque@timesdispatch.com.