The Commonwealth of Virginia has announced its participation in a nationwide effort to promote Green Innovations throughout the Southeast.
The Initiative is designed to inform, encourage and support local governments’ efforts to implement
practical strategies that are both economically viable and environmentally responsible. The
Initiative would include the following elements:
• Establish an ad hoc advisory committee (8 – 12 members) to help guide the Initiative, including
members of the Environmental Quality Policy Committee, the Executive Committee,
local government staff, nonprofit organizations
• Hold four or five “Best Practices” Regional Forums across the state that would serve to
educate and provide a venue for local governments to exchange ideas and showcase successful
model programs
• Publish a “Best Practices Green Book,” based on a survey of VML local government
members, that would catalog programs and practices used in localities across the state
to promote sustainability. The book would be an addition to the Local Officials Resource
Series and would focus on programs that have proven their value and can be replicated
• Establish a monthly column in VML’s magazine to further the Initiative
• Sponsor a Go Green Virginia Challenge for local governments. This would be a friendly
competition designed to encourage Virginia’s cities, towns and counties to implement
specific environmental policies and take practical actions that reduce the carbon emissions
generated by the local government. One hundred “green points” earns a certification as a
“Green Government.” The top three jurisdictions receive special public recognition at the
2008 VML Annual Conference
• Provide additional support to VML for targeted environmental legislative action