Governors, mayor stress sustainable efforts

by Jonathan O'Connell Staff Reporter
Friday, September 12, 2008

Renewable energy, expanded public transit and environmental preservation reigned at the Kennedy Center Thursday when Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty talked to members of the Greater Washington Board of Trade.

The two governors and mayor — all Democrats — gave speeches outlining their efforts at sustaining land, air and water. Kaine thanked the business group for its support of plans to extend Metrorail to Dulles International Airport. He said he would like to see colleges and universities in all three jurisdictions work together more, and that their focus “has to be energy-related research” to attract clean energy industries.

O’Malley thanked the Board of Trade for its support of Maryland’s slot initiative to shore up the state’s budget and said he is focused on “the pressing moral issue of sustainability of land, air and water.”

“Greening our region and growing our businesses, it goes hand-in-hand,” he said. Building new residential development around the state’s transit hubs, a pillar of smart growth planning, would be critical as the state plans to attract 1.3 million new residents as a result of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) activity around Fort Meade, O’Malley said.

Mayor Fenty talked about the District’s plan to create a renewable energy utility and the new energy-efficient buildings being built in the city. He said cleaning the Anacostia River, which runs between Maryland and the District, should be a priority along with a cleaner Chesapeake Bay. “A whole generation of young people have grown up along the river but have never swam, never fished and never boated there,” he said.

Jim Dinegar, president and CEO of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, said members were concerned that the separate jurisdictions were each creating their own greenhouse gas rules.

Kaine responded that air pollution regulations ought to be settled by the federal government. Dinegar also said the board would propose a center for sustainable energy at the Smithsonian Institution’s Arts and Industries Building, which is on the National Mall but is currently closed and needs renovating.

The three elected leaders are meeting Friday morning at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to discuss next steps.

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