On September 16, 2020, the Sierra Club York River Group held its first online roundtable meeting on climate solutions. This meeting was packed with many excellent speakers. The topic itself was inspired by a new requirement enacted into Virginia state law in 2020 (Senate Bill 94) for Virginia to report its greenhouse gas inventory in the next Virginia Energy Plan of 2022.
After some introductory remarks, the roundtable was kicked off by Alice Redhead (Ready for 100 Campaign, VA Chapter Sierra Club Staff). She told us that committing to 100 percent renewable energy is becoming the “new normal,” as more and more cities and communities throughout the United States do it. This issue is supported by over 2/3 of Virginians, and can be used as a powerful force to unite people.
Next came a presentation by John Morrill, Arlington County Energy Manager, on his county’s Community Energy Plan. This plan has been shared with other localities as they develop their own plans. It can serve as a model to follow. Arlington started by doing a greenhouse emissions inventory, then developing an energy plan that became a part of the county’s comprehensive plan. For example, they seek carbon neutrality by 2050. Mr. Morrill mentioned many online resources available to help. A copy of his slides can be found here: Arlington_Climate_Solutions.pdf (6.5 MB).
Ivy Main and Susan Stillman (Top Leadership Volunteers, VA Chapter Sierra Club) provided an overview of new laws and opportunities in Virginia regarding solar and other renewable and clean energy initiatives. Ivy Main is the VA Chapter Sierra Club Conservation Chair and maintains an informational and understandable blog on renewable energy, PowerForThePeopleVA.com. Susan Stillman is the Chapter Renewable Energy Co-Chair. They talked about 3rd party Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), energy service contracting, community choice aggregation, and C-PACE, among a wide variety of other important programs available to many communities in Virginia to help them move toward renewable energy.
The meeting then turned to the roundtable participants:
- Newport News: Jennifer Privette, Sustainability Manager
- York County: Samantha McNeil, Outreach Coordinator for Public Works
- James City County: Grace Boone, Director of General Services
- Poquoson: Randy Wheeler, City Manager
- Williamsburg: Caleb Rogers, Councilmember
- Hampton: David Imburgia, Environmental & Sustainability Manager
Each participant gave a brief overview of climate-related successes and future plans in their regions. These talks helped to outline the environmental progress and challenges on the Virginia Peninsula.
This Sierra Club meeting is the first of a planned annual roundtable to be convened to assess each locality’s progress in lowering greenhouse gases. A copy of the slides that were shown at this fantastic online meeting can be found at https://arcg.is/4rnuS.