Prince George's County Green Power Coalition
Last night, I attended the Prince George's County Green Power Coalition's Candidate Briefing event held at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers building in Lanham, Maryland (Lisa Lincoln, Co-chair of the Coalition, is featured in the image at left).
Even though it's an election year and therefore one might expect a flurry of politicians and would-be politicians to be in attendance, I have to admit that I was both suprised and impressed by the sheer numbers of candidates, incumbents, and members of the public who attended this briefing. I think this shows that the green movement is growing in force and in interest in Prince George's County. If our future leaders are listening (and I think they are), they know that some of the topics discussed last night and in the Coalition's Platform document, titled "Building Healthy and Vibrant Communities" (available here as a pdf), are going to be very hot topics in the coming years.
The Coalition briefed candidates on six main areas that they urged were necessary to address in order to establish a healthy and vibrant community, as follows:
- Climate Change and Energy - reducing energy consumption and increasing the production of renewable energy in the County can have a major impact on the local economy and on local health. The Coalition suggests that the County should mandate energy audits for large energy users in both the private and public sector; work with the private sector to create a loan program to promote investing in remediation projects; and require local governments to have comprehensive energy plans.
- Waste Management - creating partnerships between the County, local governments, and the private sector to improve waste management will provide a cleaner County, save money, and stimulate local business opportunities. Suggestions made in Platform document include implementing a zero waste goal; creating a mandatory and comprehensive residential and commercial waste recycling requirement; and creating legislation that calls for a plastic bag fee, among others.
- Land Use and Transportation - the Coalition alleges that the 2002 Prince George's County General Plan is "broken and needs to be revised." The Coalition wants to see our land plans focusing on development around metro stations in the County and on strengthening pedestrian-oriented and multi-modal (read: bicycle) linkages.
- Green Business - to foster the growth of green business, the Coalition suggests that the County create an "Office of Sustainability" to promote existing green businesses and encourage green building practices in the County.
- Sustainable Agriculture and Local Foods - protect farmland and improve the County's farm economy by enhancing land preservation policies and expanding farmers' markets.
- Water Quality and Natural Resources - the Coalition recommends that the County implement a policy to ensure that the first 1.7 inches of rainwater during a storm stay on the land where it falls. It also recommends that the County create a fee structure to discourage the creation of impervious surfaces and encourages redevelopment in areas that already have a high amount of impervious surfaces.
Obviously, a lot of the suggestions noted in the Platform document directly relate to the land development and building industry. While I believe that many of these ideas are great in theory, my hesitation is that some of these suggestions, if implemented exactly as stated in the Platform document, could have a chilling effect on business opportunities in the County - especially as our economy is still in the process of recovering from the recession. Reaching that perfect balance between fostering opportunities for growth and protecting our existing resources is a constant struggle, but I'm confident that we'll get there one day. Opportunities to engage in a dialogue and present ideas, like the Coalition's event last night, will help us get closer to striking that balance.
