DETAILS: All across the country – and right here in Northern Virginia – legislators, building owners and families are changing policies and making simple energy efficiency repairs. Hear what is happening and how you can get involved.
Topics include:
The importance of boosting the efficiency of our homes and offices
What's being done locally to cut building energy use
Steps people can take to weatherize their homes
Opportunities to volunteer to do energy efficiency repairs
Virginia Senator Jennifer Boysko, chief patron of legislation to support energy efficiency in buildings, will speak about the prospects for environmental and climate legislation passing through the changed Richmond landscape.
SPONSORS: UUCF Act for Climate Today (ACT!), Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions and Sierra Club Great Falls Group
WHEN: Thur., Jan. 13, 7:30–9:30 pm WHERE: Online RSVP DETAILS: Join us for an interactive conversation about climate goals for our region and how our groups are working on multiple opportunities to push forward climate solutions. Learn how to get involved in meaningful, impactful, action. Activist and author Bill McKibben will open with remarks on the climate crisis and the importance of local organizing. SPONSORS: Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions (host), Sierra Club Great Falls Group, Sierra Club Potomac River Group, Audubon Naturalist CONTACT: andrea@faithforclimate.org
photo credit: Nancie Battaglia
Webinar Probes Data Centers in Rural PW County
A discussion on Data Centers... from the Rural Crescent to the Occoquan Reservoir
WHEN: Thur., Jan. 6, 7:00 pm WHERE: Online. Register HERE
Landowners have filed a proposal to create an industrial corridor for data centers through the Rural Crescent area of Prince William County. The proposed corridor covers over 2,000 acres next to Manassas National Battlefield Park and Conway Robinson State Forest.
Those opposing the proposal say we don't have to choose between building data centers to boost the county's commercial tax base on the one hand, and protecting our national parks, the Rural Crescent, and our drinking water supply on the other, because a 3,100 acre overlay district is already set aside for data center development. We can do both and help fight climate change as well.
The January 6 webinar will address the proposal's drawbacks. Three panelists discuss the options: Dr. Jack Kooyoomjian, ret. U.S. Environmental Protection agency and Lake Ridge Occoquan Coles Civic Association; Julie Bolthouse, Piedmont Environmental Council; and Stewart Schwartz, Coalition for Smarter Growth. For more on this issue, see "Data Centers Threaten Prince William Parkland" near the end of this newsletter.
SPONSORS: Prince William Conservation Alliance, National Parks Conservation Association, Sierra Club Great Falls Group, Piedmont Environmental Council CONTACT: alliance@pwconserve.org
Renewable Energy Chair for Sierra Club's Virginia Chapter
Zero Waste Initiative Plans Action for 2022
WHEN: Tues., Jan. 18, 7–8 pm WHERE: Virtual Meeting – Zoom link sent after RSVP. Register here. DETAILS: Join us to help us plan for a year of zero waste! Our January Volunteer Night will focus on planning for 2022 - via virtual and in-person events, topics and activities. We'll continue to push for expanded composting and recycling and for cutting plastic bag use in Northern Virginia. New and experienced participants are all welcome. Come be a part of the solution!
CONTACTS: Evelina Hobson or Haiping Luo at zerowastesierra@gmail.com SPONSOR: Sierra Club Great Falls Group
National Zero Waste Initiatives
Zero Waste is much more than recycling; it is rethink, redesign, reuse and no-burn, no landfill. The zero-waste movement promotes a circular economy, where very few materials are thrown out but rather are recirculated and reused. For example, some companies are making it possible to reuse to-go containers by creating a collection, washing, and restocking system for restaurants.
Other people are developing solutions for the textile industry: collection, sorting, reuse, online consignment. What can you do? For textiles, rather than buying new, look at reuse or circular options. If you must buy new, buy quality products that will last and not be thrown out after a few wears. See "More details" below for an outline of the December 9 Zero Waste Communities session of the National Zero Waste Virtual Conference, which shows many exciting options being developed.
You may have heard that most of your recycling material ends up in a landfill, but that’s not true. An estimated 70 to 85 percent of material submitted for recycling goes where it's supposed to go.
All recyclers have to deal with contaminants such as batteries, diapers, and Styrofoam. But these are generally a minority of what they receive. In Prince William County, for example, only 15 percent of what enters a recycling facility ends up getting sent out as trash. More broadly, Republic Services, which has waste processing facilities in 44 states, reports that its company-wide average contamination rate is 22 percent. In other words, more than three-quarters of their intake can be recycled. The Recycling Partnership is a national nonprofit working to provide grants to localities to help them improve their recycling programs. They estimate that on average nationwide only 16.9 percent of what gets put in a recycling bin doesn’t belong there.
Great Falls Group Continues to Advocate for Strong Action to Carry Out Fairfax County’s Climate Plan
The GFG members working on Fairfax County's Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Plan (CECAP) met with Rachel Flynn, the Deputy County Executive. Along with other departments, Ms. Flynn oversees the county's Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, the Department of Transportation, Land Development Services, and the Department of Code Compliance – all departments that directly shape climate actions needed to reach CECAP goals.
The GFG group brought up several issues at the meeting. One important focus was the work being done by the county's Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination (OEEC) to carry out the CECAP climate strategies. GFG asked about the potential to create a new Climate, Technology, and Implementation Advisory Group, made up of climate experts from the ranks of county citizens, academics and business executives who would meet monthly with county offices such as OEEC. Having solutions driven by science and data is the best way to achieve our CECAP goals. This concept had lots of traction with the Deputy County Executive and she noted that this was a doable option.
The GFG group also pointed out the need for inclusion of low-income residents and people of color. Also there was concern over the Board of Supervisors appointing a group of business leaders to advise the board of climate and energy issues, as this would have the biggest GFG emitters advising the county on GFG reductions. Many other climate action topics were discussed.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Deputy County Executive asked GFG what recommendations the county should prioritize in the near term to ensure it achieves its CECAP goals. GFG is currently working on that effort now.
The group would appreciate any assistance from GFG members in moving the CECAP effort forward. CECAP has potential, but only if fully and carefully executed.
Bles Park in Loudoun County is a 132-acre park located where Broad Run and the Potomac River meet. People have sighted 190 species of birds there, more than any other place in Loudoun County. The park is the fifth-ranked birding spot in the county, with birds that rarely, if ever, show up other places in the county. It is also home to other wildlife and native plants.
Sadly, this beautiful space has not always been well protected. In the 1990s two soccer fields and 90 parking spaces were built at Bles Park. In October 2021, however, the Loudoun County Planning Commission voted to deny an application to add impervious surface at the park.
Now this resource needs protection again. On January 18 the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors will vote on a proposal for the Parks Department to add 160 parking spaces, a pickleball court, a dog park, and a boardwalk to Bles Park.
Your Virginia national parks are being threatened. Major land use changes appear to be on a fast track in Prince William County, home to Manassas National Battlefield Park (https://www.nps.gov/mana/index.htm) and Prince William Forest National Park, the largest national protected area in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region (https://www.nps.gov/prwi/index.htm).
Even though it already has 3,100 acres in its industrial-zoned overlay district, Prince William County’s Board of Supervisors is considering designating over 2,100 acres of “Rural Crescent” land for data centers and other industrial or commercial uses just a stone’s throw away from the national public parks. Conway Robinson State Park and the Occoquan Reservoir Watershed, a key source of drinking water, are at risk as well.
Adding rural land to the overlay district is short-sighted and unnecessary. Imagine a data center next toYellowstone or adjacent to the National Mall. Youprobably can’t. So why is it okay here?
If you live in Prince William County, it’s time to reach out to your Board of Supervisors. The rest of us are encouraged to ask Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Reps. Jennifer Wexton (10th Congressional District includes Manassas National Battlefield Park) and Rob Wittman (1st Congressional District includes Prince William Forest National Park) to ensure the protection of these two threatened national parks.
In opposing this threat, the Great Falls Group is in a coalition with a large number of national and local organizations. See the coalition website: https://www.growsmartpw.org
