Fairfax Moves Ahead on "Cool Counties" Program

*Fairfax County will create an inventory of "emissions and implement policies, programs and operations to achieve significant, measurable and sustainable reduction of those operational GHG emissions."

*Fairfax County plans to "reduce county geographical GHG emissions to 80 percent below current levels by 2050."

*Along the way to that ambitious goal, Fairfax County plans "to stop increasing emissions by 2010, and to achieve a 10 percent reduction every five years thereafter through to 2050."

*These ambitious goals are to be achieved through a variety of policies - energy efficiency, "green building" (LEED) standards, incentives for renewable energy (including "net metering" for homeowners), promotion of transit-oriented development, planting and preservation of trees, education and outreach efforts, and more.

My understanding is that Chairman Gerry Connolly will be introducing this Declaration at today's Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting.  Obviously, I hope to see this adopted unanimously.

It would be very difficult to overstate the importance of Fairfax County, one of the largest counties in the entire country with over 1 million people, signing this "Cool Counties Climate Stabilization Declaration" and - here's the key - pushing hard to achieve its ambitious goals.  Undoubtedly, that's why the agreement is to be officially announced nationwide at a press conference in Richmond next weekend with the Sierra Club.  The bottom line is that this is a big deal, and hopefully a model for Virginia to become a "Cool Commonwealth."  Great work by Fairfax County on this one!

(more on the "flip")
By the way, my understanding is that Arlington County will likely follow Fairfax's lead and sign on as a "Cool County" as well.  That's great news, and I certainly hope to see other big Virginia counties - Loudoun and Prince William, for instance - signing on soon. 

Unfortunately, we have seen ZERO action from the Bush Administration  since 2001, representing six wasted years, during which time we could have made a huge amount of progress in slashing our carbon emissions, oil imports, dependence on countries like Saudi Arabia, etc.  Instead, the Bush Administration and Republican Congress did nothing, leaving it up to the states, cities, and now counties to take the lead in this area.  California has been particularly proactive under its Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Other states, mainly in the northeast and other politically "blue" areas, also have moved to take action on what Al Gore correctly calls a "planetary emergency."

In the aftermath of the "Live Earth" concerts around the world this past weekend, it's time to get serious and get to work on this issue.  Reducing GHG emissions by 80% won't be easy, but it's certainly doable with a determined commitment by the same nation that won World War II and sent men to the moon. 

For now, I'm very pleased to see Fairfax County taking the lead here in Virginia. I urge everyone to elect Democrats this November so that our STATE government can do the same.

U.S. Cool Counties Climate Stabilization Declaration

WHEREAS, there is a consensus among the world's leading scientists that global warming caused by human emission of greenhouse gases is among the most significant problems facing the world today; 

WHEREAS, documented impacts of global warming include but are not limited to increased occurrences of extreme weather events (i.e., droughts and floods), adverse impacts on plants and wildlife habitats, threats to global food and water supplies ? all of which have an economic impact on communities and their local governments; 

WHEREAS, leading scientists have projected that stabilization of climate change in time to minimize such impacts will require a reduction of global warming emissions to 80 percent below current levels by the year 2050; 

WHEREAS, currently the United States is responsible for producing approximately 25 percent of the world?s global warming pollutants; 

WHEREAS, many leading U.S. companies that have adopted greenhouse gas reduction programs to demonstrate corporate and operational responsibility have also publicly expressed preference for the federal government to adopt precise and mandatory emissions targets and timetables as a means by which to provide a uniform and predictable regulatory environment to encourage and enable necessary and long-term business investments; 

WHEREAS, state, regional and local governments throughout the United States are adopting emissions reduction targets and programs and that this effort is bipartisan, coming from Republican and Democratic leadership; 

WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has endorsed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which commits cities to  reduction of global warming emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012, and calls for a federal limit on emissions;

WHEREAS, the State of California has mandated statewide reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050; 

WHEREAS, more than 100 county leaders signed a letter written by Dane County, Wisconsin, that was sent to the President in March 2006 calling for increased energy investment and development of jobs focused on clean energy technologies; 

WHEREAS, counties have a unique role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for the impacts of climate change through their regional jurisdiction over policy areas such as air quality, land use planning, transportation, zoning, forest preservation, water conservation, and wastewater and solid waste management;

WHEREAS, the economic arguments for implementing climate solutions are compelling, from the near-term economic gains of energy efficiency to the long-term climate stabilization that can prevent irreparable harm from catastrophic climate change impacts;

WHEREAS, many counties throughout the nation, both large and small, are reducing global warming pollutants through programs that provide economic and quality of life benefits such as reducing energy bills, preserving green space, implementing better land use policies, improving air quality, promoting waste-to-energy programs, expanding transportation and work choices to reduce traffic congestion, and fostering more economic development and job creation through energy conservation and new technologies;

NOW, THEREFORE WE DECLARE, 

  We as Cool Counties will take immediate steps to help the federal, state, and our governments within our county to achieve the 2050 climate stabilization goal by making the following commitments: 

  i. Create an inventory of our county government (operational) greenhouse gas (?GHG?) emissions and implement policies, programs and operations to achieve significant, measurable and sustainable reduction of those operational GHG emissions to help contribute to the regional reduction targets as identified in paragraph ii;

  ii. Work closely with local, state, and federal governments and other leaders to reduce county geographical GHG emissions to 80 percent below current levels by 2050, by developing a GHG emissions inventory and regional plan that establishes short-, mid-, and long-term GHG reduction targets, with recommended goals to stop increasing emissions by 2010, and to achieve a 10 percent reduction every five years thereafter through to 2050.

  iii. Urge Congress and the Administration to enact a multi-sector national program of requirements, market-based limits, and incentives for reducing GHG emissions to 80 percent below current levels by 2050. Urge Congress and the Administration to strengthen standards by enacting legislation such as a Corporate Average Fuel Economy (?CAFE?) standard that achieves at least 35 miles per gallon (mpg) within 10 years for cars and light trucks. 

    We will take immediate steps to identify regional climate change impacts; we will draft and implement a county plan to prepare for and build resilience to those impacts.

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