Yesterday I attended the the Greater Washington Board of Trade’s annual conference. What made this year’s event different, however, was its focus on positioning the DC region as a leader in sustainability in the United States. Top officials from government, business, non-profits and associations met to discuss how we can make this happen. At the end of the day, attendees chose their goals. The top ranked: a regional target for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Others were to create incentives for businesses to become sustainable and to create an awareness campaign to educate the public.

As one of the first speakers in the morning, Gov. Timothy Kaine (D-VA) really seemed understand the urgency of Virginia’s environmental issues — quite a change for this state in which individual property rights almost always trump all other consideration. He spoke about point source versus non-point source pollution and carbon emissions like an expert. He outlined the state’s plans for sustainability. And while they won’t blow anyone away, they are concrete: 1) greater independence in our energy use, both through conservation, renewable sources, and in-state sources; 2) consumer education about conservation and reduced consumption; 3) reduction of greenhouse gases; and 4) research — he cited several example of initiatives with state colleges are looking at renewable fuel sources, including algae as a feedstock.

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, however, spoke in broad terms about the region’s transportation issues and the Anacostia River and Chesapeake Bay without committing to anything. Granted he has many other issues to deal with, notably decaying city schools, high unemployment in a city where jobs are growing, yawning disparity between the wealthy and poor, and disintegrating support services. But he clearly had decoupled all of these issues from the city’s environmental challenges, which, long-term could be a mistake. One thing Fenty did not mention were initiatives like DC Greenworks, a non-profit in DC that not only designs and installs green roofs, but trains and employs under-served adults in the city. They also work with organizations like Covenant House, which helps disadvantaged DC young adults. Public and environmental problems solved together. We need a lot more like these examples.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley was unable to attend at the last minute.

Well I need to hit my deadlines, so I’ll follow up on this post with more details later.

Elizabeth Striano
Consultant and writer on sustainability and the environment
www.agreenfootprint.com

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