While his opponent is stuck in "Virginia 0.5" or maybe "Virginia 1.0," Chap Petersen has jumped ahead to "Virginia 2.0", "A vision for our community, our state and our world." Chap's overall -- and inspiring -- objective is "[t]o make Fairfax County and the Commonwealth of Virginia a leader in energy efficiency, environmental protection and sustainable living." How often do you see a fleshed-out, visionary environmental and energy plan from a state candidate? Frankly, the last time I saw something this good from a politician was Wes Clark's "100-year vision" and his detailed ideas about energy and the environment. Anyway, check out these elements from Chap's vision for Virginia:
*"[Fight] for the underground option for the Dulles Rail project through Tyson's Corner so that the surface area remains pedestrian-friendly."
*"[Extend] the Orange Line Metro from Vienna to Centreville to relieve traffic on the Rte 66 corridor."
*"[Improve] the Virginia Railway Express by increasing the trains' speed, frequency and reliability."
*"[Use] technology to improve vehicle flow."
*"Promote demand management through the utilities, so that we can limit wasteful overuse of energy."
*"Establish a realistic benchmark (20%) to make renewable energy like solar, wind, and geothermal part our energy portfolio."
*"[Use] technology to save money" by "Promoting LEED Standards" for buildings and "Establishing a 'Cool Commonwealth'" for Virginia.
Obviously, Chap has thought long and hard about how to protect Virginia's environment, how to slash our greenhouse gas emissions, how to save Virginia's citizens money and improve their quality of life. This is exactly the kind of leadership we need -- badly -- in the State Senate. I look forward to Senator Petersen working towards enactment of his "Virginia 2.0" vision. Over the next 60 days, let's make sure that we do everything we can to elect Chap Petersen!
As illegal immigration is such a hot topic here, I'm wondering if Chap's district voters support his position on illegal immigration: "I believe that localities should have the flexibility to react to the situation as their elected leaders see fit."
Fearing fallout from the Prince William resolution to target illegal immigrants to curb their access to public services and increase immigration enforcement by local police, my county supervisors are now starting to react and I'm very afraid that hard-working illegals' children here will soon be suffering.
Leaving local elected officials to humanely figure this problem out scares me quite a bit. I would prefer that the state address this issue.
Again, I apologize for bringing this up under this diary.
Version 1.0: Wood and other biomass
Version 2.0: Whale oil, coal, etc.
Version 3.0: Fossil fuels, especially oil
Version 4.0: Sustainability - renewables, energy efficiency
As I recall, Chap cited a little too much of that whole sawgrass, ethanol, agricultural type aspect on his blog for my taste. Unless you use very efficient means of production (converting these things to usable energy), they can work out to environmentally bad and wasteful. Efficient methods do exist, but it is my understanding (an expert can correct me if I am wrong) they are not in universal use. Of course, unless a market exists for these products as fuel, no one is going to worry about developing more efficient production methods to make them into fuel. So it all goes 'round and 'round until we hit a good balance.
We love to waste nonrenewable petroleum based fuels in this country and of that there is no question. If we start looking at what energy we can reuse and recycle and that is not finite by its very nature(like fossil fuels - from a human perspective, use them and they're gone), then we are all better off.
One thing we need to do, desperately, for our own sanity and in order to conserve finite energy resources, is to reduce vehicle miles travelled on our roads. I am sick of the build more lanes mentality and of the flippant attitude towards this on both a state and county level here in Virginia. I believe that flippancy exists across political lines. We have to change that attitude. We also have to accept that we have to be open to a variety of transportation solutions and that we ought not just pick one method and act surprised when people still drive.
We have to get people out of their cars, especially for short trips in winter (when those start/stop emissions are bad), and especially when they have other modes of transportation available to them. Getting people on foot, on bikes, walking over to ride the Metro or VRE or bus, etc. etc. will solve two scourges at once: gridlock and obesity! :-) To do that, we have to actually plan like we have never planned before. That requires cooperation across the board, across the spectrum of political thought.
On the sidetrack post on immigration, I think Chap was stating the obvious, too. Illegal immigration is a multi-layered onion of a problem.