Va. environmental group touts green investments

The country’s environment and employment could be given a huge boost by investing in clean, green infrastructure, a report by a state environmental advocacy group suggests.

“Fossil fuels have run our environment and economy into the ground,” said J.R. Tolbert, an advocate for Environment Virginia.

The Richmond-based environmental group released a 34-page report Tuesday outlining how much it says pollution could be reduced if energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements were made nationwide. The document says that if all its proposals — which include increasing transit operations, funding the Green Jobs Act and creating a building retrofit program — were implemented within the next decade, annual global warming pollution would be reduced by nearly 10 percent. In terms of oil consumption, the savings would be the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the road each year, the report states.

“There is so much room for savings,” Tolbert said.

Tolbert said the energy initiatives would not just be beneficial for the environment, but also for the economy, as jobs would be created through infrastructure investments.

As President-elect Barack Obama’s $775 billion economic stimulus plan takes shape, the advocacy organization has attempted to convince lawmakers that $150 billion should be directed toward investments in clean energy and green infrastructure, such as wind, solar and geothermal power and public transit.

However, Obama’s plan, which has emphasized green infrastructure improvements and investments in alternative energy, already has been met with skepticism by some legislators who question how much debt the package would generate and whether it would be wise to spend heavily on high-cost renewable energy during a recession.

Rich Lowry, of the conservative National Review, has called Obama’s plan a “lavish, politically correct free lunch,” writing that the government should seek to create a favorable business climate and leave the “color-coding” to the marketplace.

Charlottesville, meanwhile, is attempting to get a chunk of Obama’s proposed stimulus package, having drafted a $36 million list of “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects — including improvements to the ailing water and sewer systems — to help spur job growth and economic revitalization.

Tolbert said the organization released its report in Charlottesville because it has been a “bright light” in the state for tackling energy-efficient projects in its municipal buildings and schools. Apart from winning a dozen awards for its sustainability efforts, Charlottesville’s City Council also unanimously voted in July 2006 to sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement to reduce carbon dioxide pollution, and the body passed a resolution in December 2007 that obliges the city to purchase electricity from renewable energy sources.

Councilor David Brown said the city is pushing for more incentives for homeowners and businesses to make energy efficiency improvements, which can have sizeable up front costs. The city has an existing real estate tax break for buildings that are 30 percent more energy efficient than state standards, but the program has seen few takers because of how costly it is to make the improvements to the city’s aging housing stock.

“There’s lots of things we’ve been trying to do as a community,” he said. “But the problem is it’s just the beginning.”

The city has a slate of legislative initiatives — including energy efficiency tax incentives — that it wants passed in the General Assembly, which convenes today.

Additionally, prior to the report’s release Tuesday, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Monday proposed several pieces of legislation that are designed to create “green jobs” statewide — including a biofuels incentive grant, renewable energy system income tax credits and a sales tax exemption for renewable energy equipment.

Chad Freckman of Blue Ridge Clean Fuels said certain energy upgrades, such as installing solar panels to generate electricity, are substantially more expensive than the traditional coal-powered plant. But, he said, “if money is going to be spent on infrastructure, let’s spend it on something that’s going to have long-term payoff.”

The transition to a “clean energy economy,” Tolbert said, would put 3 million people to work on ready-to-go projects.