By RUSTY DENNEN
Government traditionally has been responsible for services such as fire and rescue, schools, recreation and trash disposal.
Increasingly, localities are tackling another issue that has long been the domain of tree-huggers and activists--cleaning up the environment.
About a dozen municipalities in Virginia, including Fairfax County and Charlottesville, are--with the backing of the Sierra Club--at the leading edge of a nationwide effort. Participants in the Cool Cities and Cool Counties initiatives, for example, pledge to cut greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
Similar planning has begun in the Fredericksburg area to start addressing such topics as emissions, clean fuels and energy efficiency.
"I do believe the whole issue of global warming and climate change has become a very real problem," said Hap Connors, a Spotsylvania County supervisor and chairman of the recently formed Regional Green Government Commission.
It's the first step in a plan that could lead to green management and purchasing in the region.
"The science indicates that [local government officials] need to do a better job of protecting our environment and promote environmentally friendly policies. As government leaders, we have an obligation to lead by example," he said.
Connors has been looking at what other localities are doing and decided that some of the initiatives could work well here.
"We are the fourth-largest and fastest-growing region in the commonwealth," he said. "These things can not only help the environment, but save money."
Some possibilities:
Replacing municipal vehicles with hybrid or other ultra-low-emissions versions and switching to more environmentally friendly fuels.
Enacting building codes and retrofitting public buildings to make them more energy-efficient and healthful for employees.
Purchasing green cleaning supplies and lawn-care products, and using sand instead of salt on roads and sidewalks.
Establishing a regional Green Purchasing Cooperative.
Overall, the idea is to have officials and municipal workers thinking about the environment in the day-to-day duties they perform, says Fredericksburg City Councilman Marvin J. Dixon, who co-chairs the commission with Connors.
Dixon, who represents Ward 1, has been working to boost recycling in the city, and would like to see green programs expanded.
"I see us working on emissions, litter pickup, developing medians and entranceways that are drought-resistant but pretty to look at," he said. On a larger scale, "We'd be looking at buildings, vehicle fleets and capital projects on a regional level--how can we make them more environmentally friendly without incurring additional costs?"
The Regional Green Government Commission will soon finalize its membership and then schedule its first meeting.
Among the first items to be done would be an inventory of just what jurisdictions are doing, said Robert Wilson, executive director of the George Washington Regional Commission, the local planning agency.
"We have a region that not very long ago was very rural. With it suburbanizing the way it is, there is the potential for negative environmental impacts associated with that growth," Wilson said. The planning region includes Fredericksburg and the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, King George and Caroline.
"The sense here is that we're going to where the hanging fruit is, pluck that off the tree and then set our sights on loftier goals down the road."
Most area localities have recycling programs; Stafford County requires developers to consider low-impact development techniques. But a comprehensive regional program has been lacking.
Michael Town, director of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, says localities are beginning to understand they have a responsibility to protect the environment, and can do it without breaking the bank.
"We're seeing this all across the country," Town said. "Whether it's purchasing hybrid-fuel fleets, planting trees, purchasing green power when it's available."
It can begin with something as simple as replacing energy-gulping incandescent light bulbs in public buildings with low-energy fluorescent bulbs, he said.
"It's not only about carbon emissions. It's saving taxpayers' money. Some localities are saving tens of thousands of dollars annually."
Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431| One of the nation's largest local-government environmental initiatives is the Sierra Club-sponsored Cool Cities program. A similar program for counties was launched in July.
About 600 jurisdictions around the country, including about a dozen in Virginia, have signed on so far. It begins with a pledge to take action to combat climate change and creating a plan to carry it out. The goal is cutting greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050. A third element is lobbying lawmakers to enact market-based limits on emissions, and incentives for reducing them. Fairfax County and many other participants also have enacted environmental programs that go beyond global-warming issues. Source: National Association of Counties
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| GOING GREEN is an occasional series on area efforts to save energy and the environment. |