Progressive Voice

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.

By Jay Fisette

Seriously? “Clean” Natural Gas? Natural gas is a fossil fuel. This is false advertising and it undermines the message and goals of our Community Energy Plan (“Energy Plan”).

Arlington’s local ART bus system is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Kudos that the ART buses have never been dirty diesel. Arlington’s transportation system overall is outstanding. We set a high bar on reducing vehicle miles traveled and providing a robust array of transportation options. Continuing these efforts is essential…yet insufficient because today 36% of Arlington’s overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions still come from transportation.

We must better integrate and embrace energy and climate goals into transportation planning and investments.

Later this month, the County Board will act to update the 2013 Energy Plan. They have already made some important improvements to the staff draft–such as setting a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. What remains weak are the transportation goals.

The County Board needs to direct county staff to develop a plan, by 2021, for the ultimate transition of our county fleet to zero emissions. The ART buses need to move beyond natural gas and transition to electric vehicles (EVs).

Alexandria’s Environmental Action Plan calls for replacing 25% of their municipal fleet with electric vehicles by 2027, and 100% by 2040–with a plan due by 2021. By 2020, they will develop a strategy for a community electric vehicle-charging infrastructure.

Montgomery County has a goal of zero emissions from transportation by 2035. King County/Seattle has a goal of electrifying its entire 1,400-bus fleet by 2040.

At my training with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, I learned the two fundamental changes needed to meet the imperative of climate change are: (1) replacing fossil fuels with renewables, and (2) electrifying transportation.

Arlington’s sustainability story is a source of pride for me and for our community. We pioneered smart growth, and we integrated that land use with a robust transportation system. Now we must fully integrate climate and energy goals into all we do.

Even in Virginia where local government authority is often limited by the state, Arlington has complete authority to electrify public transportation and create a public charging infrastructure for private vehicles.

Our County and Arlington Public Schools (APS) fleet includes sedans (why not start purchasing all electric sedans now?), municipal buses and school buses.

Dominion Energy just launched an ambitious school bus initiative. They will pay the difference between an electric and diesel bus as well as the charging infrastructure for thousands of buses over the next decade. Their goal: all school bus purchases will be electric by 2030. Arlington should sign up early! I hope Dominion will do the same with municipal bus fleets.

Arlington can lead by example to encourage residents, businesses and other localities to buy electric vehicles. We should aggressively engage the region in negotiating with the utilities, explore joint procurement savings, and advocate for needed state policy changes.

The wave has already begun. 17% of the world’s buses are already electric. Many major cities have committed to buy only zero emission buses by 2025 (Aukland, Seattle, Vancouver, Los Angeles, etc.). Shanghai and Shenzhen are already 100% electric.

And all major car manufacturers are designing electric vehicles. In 2018, Volkswagen, GM, BMW, Ford, Fiat, and Volvo all announced $100 billion investments in new electric vehicles. In 2017, Mark Reuss, GM’s EVP for Global Product Development, stated, “GM believes the future is all electric.”

Electric vehicles cost more to buy today, though battery and bus costs are coming down. However, when life cycle costs are considered, the savings on the operation and maintenance of electric vehicles, along with options to lease the battery, are closing the cost differential.

The County needs a long-term transportation plan to create a zero emissions fleet that includes electric vehicles…and should remove the misleading language from our 81 ART buses today.

Jay Fisette served on the County Board from 1998 – 2017 and led the development and adoption of the initial Community Energy Plan.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.

By Paula Lazor

Ever since middle school, Chloe Pilkerton wanted to become a veterinarian. Thanks to the animal science program at the Arlington Career Center, she was able to get a head start on her dream. In addition to her textbook studies about the anatomy and physiology of animals, she and her classmates had the unique experience of handling, feeding, and observing the behavior of up to 200 species all under one roof.

“Hands-on learning can’t be learned in a textbook,” Pilkerton noted. Nor was it limited to inside the animal science lab. Arlington students have participated in internships at local animal hospitals, nature centers, and the bird house at the National Zoo.

Arlington Public Schools (APS) has laid a firm foundation in career and technical education (CTE), offering more than 20 high school CTE programs at the Career Center. The question is what must APS do now to ensure even more students are well-prepared for post-secondary education or to enter the workforce directly from high school — with the right skills that are useful immediately in the jobs of tomorrow?

There is a huge skills gap in the United States. A recent report by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and Workforce and JPMorgan Chase found an estimated 30 million jobs that do not require a bachelor’s degree. This supports the need for more workforce training in high school. These jobs are available in skilled services industries such as health care, education, finance, leisure and hospitality.

To further students’ skills for tomorrow’s jobs, Arlington could focus on three areas:

First, we could boost our valuable work-based learning (WBL) internships, which are performed in partnership with local businesses and organizations. The Career Center’s auto technology program, for example, long ago established successful partnerships with local dealerships. Several auto tech and collision repair students participate in paid internships with dealers every summer.

Through Career Center partnerships with local hospitals, emergency medical technician students participate in clinical rotations visiting patients, ambulance ride-alongs, and emergency room visits. And the early childhood education program partners with the Career Center’s infant care center and preschool program and will provide field experience for students at the new Montessori Public School of Arlington. APS has made good headway in WBL internships and can do more.

Second, make CTE courses accessible to more high school students. Some students cannot take CTE courses at the Career Center because they conflict with the class schedule at their home school. To remove this obstacle, APS could better publicize a school policy provision that permits students to earn high school and college credits simultaneously at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA). In some instances, taking dual enrollment courses on the NOVA campus could free up a student’s schedule to take the desired CTE course at the Career Center.

APS should also ensure CTE class availability so that every student who wants to enroll can do so, despite challenges posed by school construction projects affecting capacity at the Career Center, a situation that arose earlier this year.

Third, NOVA and Amazon Web Services recently partnered to establish an apprenticeship program to train military veterans to be Associate Cloud Consultants. It would be a wise move for APS to explore opening the Amazon-NOVA apprenticeship program to high school students who want to pursue advanced training in cloud support.

Having real-world, work-based experiences gives students a chance to test-drive a potential career and, in the process, determine what might or might not be the right fit. Too often, the CTE path is viewed as an either-or choice when, in fact, career and technical education prepares students to be ready for both, and to be ready to ensure their financial footing as young adults.

Paula Lazor is the author of Beyond the Box: How Hands-on Learning Can Transform a Child and Reform Our Schools. She is the host and producer of “Education Innovations” on WERA 96.7 FM and has been a parent advocate for nearly 20 years. Paula and her husband have been Arlington residents since 1981 and love walking and biking along the W&OD Trail. They have two adult children who have benefited from an APS education.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Claire Noakes

Vacationing families expect a line at the funnel cake stand on the boardwalk, but they shouldn’t be surprised if there’s also a line at the monkey bars back at the schoolyard for the foreseeable future.

The latest Arlington Public School (APS) projected enrollment figures anticipate that a decade from now demand for elementary school seats will outstrip the planned supply by 2,472 seats — roughly 19% of the current amount. Meanwhile, development has reduced the availability of acreage for new school construction, especially along Columbia Pike and near Metro stations, where the housing pipeline growth is most concentrated. And parents continue to clamor for walkable neighborhood elementary schools. How will we resolve these competing pressures?

APS commits resources to keep elementary class size hovering around 21 kids, but classroom size doesn’t tell the whole story. The average number of kids attending an Arlington elementary school last year was 619, and planning efforts assume that future elementary schools will consist of 725 seats each, resulting in nearly three dozen classes at one location.

Yet much of the elementary school day occurs outside of the classroom — on bus rides, in the cafeteria, and at recess. Three dozen classes have to cycle through lunchtime — packed into a chaotic cafeteria, with shortened lunch periods that start at 10:45 a.m. Three dozen classes have to share recess space, and crowd control measures like banning games of tag are implemented. Class size can be exemplary, yet students may be miserable — one child at my son’s school would become tearful whenever the cafeteria noise level became too loud.

An elementary school is expected to house six grades (plus pre-school in some cases), but why are we packing these grades into one building, other than tradition? The youngest grades need close chaperoning during the school day, but don’t need the dedicated space for band or theater. Older grades access many resources electronically and need teachers to prepare them for standardized tests. We shouldn’t automatically conflate the different needs of these grades and then replicate the current model to address the upcoming 2,742-seat deficit.

Imagine instead if elementary school was sub-divided, with K-2 incubated at new, smaller scale schools, embedded in residential neighborhoods. Bus traffic might be minimal if the entire boundary had a walkable radius. Physical space could focus on social development and emotional wellness. APS might have better luck with acquiring contiguous residential parcels, rather than competing to find 6-acre lots or upgrading commercial space. Meanwhile, existing elementary schools could be repurposed to hold grades 3-5, or add grade 6, or converted to a middle school as needs dictate.

Of course, building smaller K-2 schools would require a re-think of assumptions for meal preparation, libraries, administrative staffing costs, and after-school activities. Given the shortage of land for building new elementary schools, however, planners should put all options on the table for consideration.

And Arlington wouldn’t be a trailblazer if we subdivided our elementary schools. Five years ago, Fairfax split Bailey’s Elementary School into two campuses, grades K-2 and 3-5. The location for the older kids had challenges — it lacked a playground and is located in a renovated commercial space. Still, we could draw lessons from their experience and emulate what works. Arlington must be nimble–and perhaps think smaller–to address our upcoming elementary school needs.

Claire Noakes serves on Arlington’s Joint Facilities Advisory Commission (JFAC). Her own elementary school experience involved lengthy bus rides, portables (as relocatables were called), and nacho cheese on everything, so things could be worse.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.

By Krysta Jones

It’s been about seven months since Virginia and the nation were stunned by the revelations that Gov. Ralph Northam “may have” posed in blackface or Ku Klux Klan uniform. In the subsequent days, Attorney General Mark Herring also admitted to posing in blackface.

A flurry of elected officials, leaders and organizations called for their resignations. Others took a more tempered approach and saw it as a moment of racial healing and atonement. Since then, the Northam administration has made several policy announcements that would impact minority communities. They are:

• Hiring a new top diversity officer to develop a sustainable framework for the continued promotion of inclusive practices across Virginia state government.
• Creating a Virginia African American Advisory Board. The authorizing legislation was signed into law shortly after the incident and could empower commission members to press for a more prominent role than originally laid out to address racial equity issues.
• Announcing intentions to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Black people are more likely to do jail time for marijuana.

While there may be a reconciliation tour and conversations done out of the public eye, we have not used this opportunity to take bolder steps for racial healing. At the very least, the incidents encouraged conversation. After my last post, “We Know How You Can Cure White Guilt,” I received both positive and negative feedback.

One comment especially resonated with me. An older white gentleman, who has been intentional about using his “privilege” to help the less fortunate, wanted more tangible recommendations for racial healing.

Advocating for new policies is only one way to affect change. Other ideas to make real progress with racial healing include:

Recognize where you are and how you got there. Take personal stock of what you and others have observed about your sensitivities or lack thereof. It’s hard to see your blind spot, but after some thought, you may notice areas for improvement.

Listen.It may seem like a simple act but it is often hard to do. After the Northam incident, online and in-person conversations surged about a possible way forward. I witnessed some hurt feelings by African Americans who felt they were not being heard, and subsequently withdrew from what could have been worthwhile efforts.

Be conscious that groups are rarely monolithic. I attended the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival in August and viewed an interesting short film called “Four Points” by R. Cadell Cook. The film highlighted differences of opinion within the Black community. It was an important reminder that in politics — and in life — we can’t assume someone’s beliefs based on how they look.

Call out the lack of diversity. Catherine Read, an activist and fundraising and PR strategist, notes that when she observes a homogenous slate of panelists at conferences, she brings it to their attention. It is something to consider when organizing and attending presentations.

Do intentional outreach. I served on the steering committee for the June 2019 Network NOVA Women’s Summit. This Summit brought together over 900 attendees to learn, connect and strategize about progressive issues. The organizers recognized the lack of diversity at previous conferences and invited me to serve because of my work in the Black community. Don’t be afraid to find people with connections to certain communities and invite them to lead. As we recruited diverse presenters and attendees, it was critical because of their expertise, not their “difference.” Recruiting diverse leaders does not mean sacrificing quality or experience.

As I have spoken with people and navigated my personal journey toward greater diversity and inclusion, what is very clear to me is that this is not easy. To be successful, we have to come to terms with some of our past mistakes, experiences, and in some cases trauma. It requires that we ALL leave our comfort zone and have difficult conversations — not just white people. When we discuss this incident 20 years from now, let’s be able to say that it was a turning point in our history. Despite what the government did, as individuals we listened, grew, cried, learned and laughed toward equality — together. That is real progress.

Krysta Jones is founder and CEO of Vote Lead Impact, Inc., and a graduate of Leadership Arlington, the Sorenson Institute of Political Leadership, and the Women’s Campaign School at Yale.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Martha Villanigro-Santiago

At any age, we must be intentional about living your best possible life, especially being healthy and active. It’s important that individuals, community and government use data and resources to develop policies, programs and other assets that enable aging residents to flourish in Arlington.

As a caregiver and aging advocate, every day I recognize that enjoying the services and choices of daily life later on requires serious planning now. Here are three lessons I’ve learned to help aging residents enjoy a fulfilling life.

Get to Know Your Neighborhood

For a happier life a few years down the road, we may want to make better-informed choices about where we choose to live based on where we like to eat and socialize. We might want to consider how easy will it be to travel to and from the supermarket. Will we want to drive, walk or ride public transportation?

Fortunately, Arlington County is a member of the AARP network of Age Friendly Communities. This means that it is a community that is beneficial to all ages. This initiative focuses on livability. “Livability” is defined in the context of the following eight domains: community support and health services; outdoor spaces and buildings; housing; transportation; social participation; respect and social inclusion; civic participation and employment; and community and information. In short, livability encourages individuals to engage in community life, stay healthy, and continue doing things they value.

The Age Friendly Arlington project has begun the process of identifying what makes Arlington a great place to live and plans on using this data to develop a plan to make it even better for aging residents.

Additionally, residents should make sure to let your leaders know what you think. For example, the Arlington Commission on Aging wants to know residents’ opinions about how livable Arlington is for them personally. Residents may communicate their experiences by participating in an online survey. The survey is an excellent way for residents to weigh in with their thoughts on growing Arlington to ensure it is a place where residents of all ages have options for living, recreation, community engagement and employment.

Make Smart Choices About Your Home

When looking for a new home or improving your current residence, universal design is a very helpful tool. Sometimes we think that the size of our home and the number of stair steps inside are unimportant until we need to use a walker or wheelchair. The reality is that we can fall at any age and be off our feet for weeks. We may be challenged when trying to access a bathroom located on a different level from the living room, for example.

Universal design represents smart living for all ages. The Commission on Aging produced a video demonstrating several examples of the benefits of this design principle for aging residents, and a brochure on smart design choices in homes for older residents is available from Arlington County.

Be Active

The benefits of physical fitness, social engagement and brain health have been widely recognized. Keeping active is not just about completing a marathon. Life may be easier following a smart and steady strategy of the exercise you enjoy best.

In Arlington, there are a wide variety of happenings and activities to experience. You can meet friends and make new connections in a number of places, from your local coffee shop to the library. Also, people age 55 and older may find more activities through programs and activities sponsored by Arlington County.

The bottom line is that life is constantly evolving. And there is no one size fits all solution for us to tackle the issues of aging and everything that life brings our way. Living in Arlington works for those who desire a community that is inclusive of every age and welcomes aging in place.
Being informed of your resources, being smart about your home, and being active are excellent ways to successfully navigate life and keep moving forward.

Martha Villanigro-Santiago is an attorney, advocate for the aging, the owner of Aging and Moving Forward, LLC, and a caregiver. She is a member of the Arlington Commission on Aging and has been living in Arlington for over eight years.

Progressive Voice is a weekly column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or of ARLnow.

By Nick Dilenschneider

While young progressives across Virginia are mobilizing to retake both chambers of the legislature in this year’s elections, it is impossible for us to ignore the 2020 Democratic presidential primary already in full swing. Were you to ask 100 millennials whom they support right now, you would find answers as diverse as the generation itself. Some are looking to experience and electability, others are drawn to candidates taking aggressive stands on issues like healthcare and taxes.

The tension is understandable. On one hand, the daily chaos fosters an understandable desire for the stability of traditional politics. This path, it could be argued, offers the best chance of capturing voters disillusioned with the president and his party. This type of candidate may not grab the headlines, but by remaining moored to positions that helped Democrats retake the House in 2018, it is not unreasonable to believe it would work again in 2020.

On the other hand is the view that we must find a candidate who is bold and daring. Now is not the time for the “safe” politics of yesterday, but instead beckons us to pursue sweeping policy changes since the current framework isn’t adequately addressing the needs of so many people, including millennials. This perspective counsels us to pick a candidate whose vision goes beyond the 2020 election and who can help lead the nation into a new progressive era.

Though millennials’ support remains split among the various candidates, there are several broad areas where there appears to be general agreement. The first is that number of candidates must be narrowed–and quickly. Trying to accommodate 10 candidates on a debate stage, some of whom are barely registering any support, reduces the chances for a forum for thoughtful discussions. Ultimately, crucial time is lost and the quality of the debate suffers.

Talk to millennials and you will hear a related frustration that someone like Steve Bullock is running for president instead of eyeing the Senate seat in Montana. We know that the Republican-controlled Senate must be flipped for a Democratic president to pass any meaningful legislation and fill key vacancies, such as on the Supreme Court. Quixotic campaigns by candidates who have no path to the nomination waste time and energy. As these doomed campaigns stumble forward, money and manpower are being sucked away from important efforts to retake the Senate and hold the House majority.

Honest leadership means setting aside personal ambition. Any Democratic candidate for president who continues to poll below 2% by the middle of August should accept that reality and move on.

Young people are also aware of how important unity will be in 2020 for defeating the president and having any chance of controlling Congress. This means that presidential candidates should avoid poisoning the race with personal attacks and uncompromising stances. This does not mean contenders should abstain from engaging with each other with conviction on issues that may be uncomfortable, but it does mean that the debate should be framed with an eye toward the general election. To win, the Democratic Party must be a big tent that welcomes difficult discussions, but also respects the diverse viewpoints from moderate to liberal.

The final shared view among my cohort is simple: that we must win. The danger of this moment is real, and we can never forget that. Left, right or center–now is not the time for protest votes or ideological rigidity. The stakes are far too high. The candidate who wins the nomination will not align perfectly with my beliefs and may not even be one of my top choices.

But I do know already that the nominee will be someone who at least believes in democracy, the rule of law, and basic decency. And in the end, that will be more than enough motivation for me.

Nick Dilenschneider is an attorney who commutes to D.C for work, and who enjoys Arlington’s many neighborhoods, establishments and opportunities for civic involvement.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Eric Harold

Floods, traffic, school capacity, lack of affordable housing. What do these increasingly recurring issues in Arlington have in common? All, in some form or fashion, are exacerbated by the increased growth and development throughout Arlington County for more than 20 years. There are many positive aspects to continued growth, but growth is not an unbridled good. The question is how to better manage it.

Arlington’s 2018 resident survey illustrates people’s increasing concerns over how the County has managed growth. Fewer than 50% of Arlingtonians are “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with how well the county is managing growth. More than a fourth of residents (26%) are “dissatisfied.” This topic (see p. 7) ranked next to the bottom in residents’ satisfaction.

A separate question asked residents which Economic Development and Planning items were most important to them. “Efforts to manage and plan for growth/development” ranked first (42%) (see p. 31).

Since the 2018 survey, Amazon has chosen Arlington as “HQ2,” with up to 25,000 new jobs expected over the next 15 years. Development continues apace in Arlington, with Crystal City, Columbia Pike and Ballston being hot spots along the major transportation corridors. In addition, infill housing and residential additions/teardowns and rebuilds continue in neighborhoods away from the major corridors. All of this contributes to the continued increases in enrollment in Arlington Public Schools, as well as increased flood damage, more traffic, and less affordable housing.

Things will not get better without a rigorous assessment and substantial change in County policies. So what can be done to improve this situation?

Historically, the County has managed growth using “smart growth” principles from nearly 50 years ago as Metro was being constructed. These principles (see slide 15):

• Concentrate high and mid-density redevelopment around transit stations, then taper down to existing neighborhoods
• Encourage mixed-usage in these areas
• Focus on pedestrian and open space environments
• Preserve and reinvest in established residential neighborhoods.

The County developed a General Land Use Plan (GLUP) that zoned 11% of the County along the two rail corridors to encourage mixed-use, high density development, while leaving 89% of the County zoned primarily as low-density. It then developed a Site Plan process by which developers can get increased density in return for building consistent with the GLUP, including significant amount of public improvements, and compliance with LEED and affordable housing goals.

Arguably, encouraging greater density in the transportation corridors while limiting development options in the neighborhoods limits the supply of available housing. Ever greater density also contributes to overcrowded streets and schools.

Should the County Board exert tighter oversight? Should the County Board employ more strategic thinking on development decisions, or put less emphasis on increasing density? Does the County need changes or additional tools for better managing development?

The tools for managing growth often work at cross-purposes to each other. Recently “upzoning” (rezoning to allow taller buildings or denser development) has been proposed as a means to increase affordable housing. But denser development affects local infrastructure (roads, sewers, stormwater management).

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Progressive Voice is a weekly column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com

By Maggie Davis

While there are many ways to define the Arlington community — subjectively and objectively — one crucial factor is the baseline data of how many people live in the County, as collected by the decennial Census.

Last year, I wrote about how census data affects Arlington’s bottom line. While there are still concerns regarding the logistics of administering the Census, the larger concern now is the Trump administration’s aggressive and persistent fight to include a citizenship question in the Census. Wrangling over this question has sowed distrust that is expected to result in an undercount. Arlington has to come together and work harder than ever to ensure an accurate and thorough Census in 2020.

In July 2018, then Arlington County Board Chair Katie Cristol submitted a letter on behalf of the County Board to the U.S. Department of Commerce urging it to omit the Trump administration’s proposed citizenship question from the 2020 Census because it “is divisive in nature, is unnecessary and will result in an undercount of residents.” Similarly, several states and other interested parties sued the Trump administration to prevent the question from being included in the 2020 Census, with the issue eventually rising to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The question before the Supreme Court was whether the Commerce Department Secretary, Wilbur Ross, had the authority to include a citizenship question in the Census. In its June opinion, the Supreme Court determined Secretary Ross did have the discretion to include the question. However, a narrowly divided (5-4) court found the Trump administration’s stated reason for including the question — to improve enforcement of the Voting Rights Act — to be pretextual.

Recently uncovered evidence showed a key section of the administration’s rationale for the question was written by a longtime Republican strategist who asserted a census citizenship question would disadvantage Democrats and be “advantageous to Republicans and non-Hispanic Whites.” The Supreme Court did not rule that the census could not include the question — only that the administration needed to provide a different and more convincing rationale for the question to one of the U.S District Courts with pending cases (New York and Maryland).

Then the process got weird.

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Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Claire Noakes

Remember reading those books, with choices every few pages? Now we live in one, where we have multiple decisions to make on clean energy policy that could lead to breakthroughs and a resilient community, or to dead ends. Choose wrong, however, and we fall into a trap that lulls us into believing we have made virtuous choices when we have in fact overlooked a huge variable. Let’s start the storyline.

It’s 2013, and you generate 12.9 metric tons (mt) of carbon dioxide emissions annually, which is unsustainable. You create a Community Energy Plan (CEP), with goals (but no budget or regulations) to lower that amount to 3 mt by 2050, and to improve economic competitiveness and energy security. Turn the page to the year 2018. You read the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report, which states dire consequences if emissions are not dropped further.

It’s 2019, and the County Board responds in the CEP Update, aiming for 100% renewable electricity for County operations by 2025, 100% renewable electricity for the community by 2035, and net zero emissions by 2050. Net zero is ambitious– if a resident uses a gas stove, there must be a carbon offset. If this draft CEP Update is adopted (and you can provide input during the July 13 County Board meeting), where will we choose for this storyline to go next?

Here’s a favorable set of possibilities:

• The County starts a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program to obtain solar power that Dominion Energy Virginia won’t provide, turns the page, and our electricity becomes cheaper because community-scale solar with storage becomes cost competitive.
• The County facilitates installation of electric vehicle charging stations, turns the page, and receives subsidies offsetting the costs.
• The County uses creative financing for landlords to retrofit rental units, and significantly decreases utility bills for low-income residents.
• The County installs solar panels on every parking lot and school roof, and Richmond changes the law to allow unlimited net metering to sell extra energy back to the grid, generating revenue.
• The County studies the feasibility of a community microgrid, and Richmond accepts the need for resiliency hubs to keep power on for medically vulnerable households when the grid goes down.

We have chosen well at every turn.

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