The sun literally came out…
More photos on the Sierra Club Falls of the James’ blog site.
And now for some editorializin’….
With this, Mayor Jones shows that he gets it.
As with stormwater and bicycle initiatives, the City of Richmond is leading the whole region.
Yes, there are always be a need for tweaking plans and there will be hiccups that need addressing (including moving from “Big Energy” to “Local Energy“), but today a lot of folks are proud to call themselves Richmonders.
Mayor Jones Issues Green Government Order
~ Launches city’s master planning process for sustainability ~
Richmond, VA – Mayor Dwight C. Jones today issued a Green Government Order calling for City agencies and employees to take actions to create more efficiency and less waste in city government and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from government operations. The Mayor also announced the launch of the City’s comprehensive sustainability planning process and shared that a Community Forum is scheduled for Thursday, June 9 at the Carillon in Byrd Park.
“We’ve made great strides as a city since I announced the Green Richmond Initiative last year,” said Mayor Jones. “But there is more that we can do.”
Since the Green Richmond Initiative was announced, the City built its first green roof on a City facility, launched a community garden program, became the first city in Virginia to build a new compressed natural gas fueling station to service an all new fleet of compressed natural gas refuse trucks, and established the Mayor’s Bicycle, Pedestrian and Trails Planning Commission.
Under the Green Government Order, city government will, among other things, create an Energy Management Plan to reduce electricity and fuel use, implement a Green Procurement Policy, develop an anti-idling policy for city vehicles and implement a Telework and Alternative Work Schedule Initiative designed to achieve a goal of 20% of eligible workers being engaged in telework or alternative work schedules by the end of this year.
The City is also moving forward with RVA Green: A Roadmap to Sustainability, where over the next twelve months, the city will work with the community in a process to develop a master plan for sustainability. RVA Green is the first sustainability plan for the city of Richmond and will involve developing a comprehensive framework and setting measureable indicators for sustainability including a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target and measures to help the city reach the target.
An Advisory Committee has been named to help the City develop the Sustainability Plan. A website will also be launched to help the public keep track of the planning process and provide input on-line at http://www.richmondgov.com/sustainabilityplan.
“We are committed to sustainability here in Richmond and we want all city residents to enjoy an improved quality of life, a healthy environment and enhanced economic opportunity,” continued Mayor Jones. “I am honored to launch this major sustainability effort for the city of Richmond.”
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