Climate change is real, it’s caused by burning fossil fuels, it’s impacting us right now, and we can do something about it – prevent things from getting worse and help communities adapt and strengthen our resilience.

In June of 2017, the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, led by Chairman Bulova, Vice Chairman Gross, and Supervisor Foust, voted to join mayors of more than 300 cities worldwide that have committed to voluntarily complying with the Paris Accord. The Supervisors recommitted to cut greenhouse gases by 2% per year countywide and throughout the metro Washington region, and an 80% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. In July 2017, Chairman Bulova held an Environmental Showcase. In the spring of 2017, the Supervisors adopted the renewed 10 year environmental vision. For the first time, the environmental vision included a chapter on climate and energy.

Fairfax County has an Energy Policy. It now has an Environmental Vision for the next 10 years which includes mitigation and adaptation to climate change. What is lacking is what surrounding jurisdictions have – a detailed operational plan with goals and performance metrics to make the plan real. The absence of a plan, accountability, metrics, staffing, authority and budget hamper Fairfax achieving needed reductions in greenhouse gases in addition to undertaking resiliency planning or preparations. The likelihood of extreme weather events and conditions grows with each year. We have had 16 billion dollar natural catastrophes in 2016, which climate scientists are now confident are increasingly likely to occur and to be increasingly intense. Extreme and prolonged heat waves are already common in many parts of the country. In 2016, there were more than 90 days where the temperature in the DC metro area was 90 degrees or more.

The Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions began a campaign in November 2017 which we call “Fairfax to Zero”. We call for the county to:

• Craft a comprehensive county-wide Climate Action Plan to implement the county’s new 10 year Environmental Vision, including annual and capital budget allocations and performance metrics
• Publicly account for progress meeting the Supervisors’ commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions county- and region-wide 2% annually.
• Install solar panels on county schools and government buildings, and promote installation of alternative energy in homes and businesses.
• Fully implement public energy dashboards that show the energy use of each public building, and to encourage private businesses to publicly post their buildings’ energy use.
• Form a public-private sustainability coalition to bring together government, faith communities, labor, business, health care and educational organizations to drive a low carbon/no carbon future for the county.