I have enjoyed and learned from all of you who have written. I would like to share my experience of signing up for green power and report on a wonderful event held on March 15 by Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (ACE)
Green Power: Signing up for Renewable Power costs a little more. I am told it is about $15 a month more for the average home. If you can afford to do this, buying renewable power is one of the best things we can do as an individual to fight global warming. It means your home is minimizing any carbon dioxide emissions and it helps move the power industry in this direction.
Although you can sign up for green power through the Dominion Power website, it isn't easy. In fact, I couldn't find any link to this on their site. I typed in Green Power and then Renewable Power under the search function but couldn't get there. Fortunately, John Morrill, Arlington's Energy Specialist figured it out for me: You can sign up at the Pepco's Power Choice website. (A Pepco website that Dominion partners with.) Once you get to this site, signing up only takes a couple of minutes.
ACE Event: Congratulations to ACE for an outstanding event on March 15. On a night where the NCAA basketball tournament was in full swing, there were hundreds of people who attended. Speakers talked about what we can do as individuals to combat Global Warming. News Channel 4 reporter Wendy Rieger talked about the importance of "Living Green." She gave us some great stories from some of her feature reports and websites to view. Scott Sklar had numerous simple energy saving tips as well as information on solar power. Don Waye (with EPA) talked about protecting our watershed. Monique Tilford reminded us that each purchase we make as consumers can have a positive or negative effect on our environment. Miles Grant, ACE President, and Elenor Hodges, ACE Executive Director, did an outstanding job.
I detailed my scorecard for the ACE Living Green Challenge. I scored 107. 5 points. However, I picked up an easy 5 points by paying my ACE dues and receiving a reusable coffee and water mug. My score put me over the required 100 points for certification but left room for improvement in many categories. I hope that many Arlingtons participate in the ACE challenge. Filling out the score card gives you ideas on things that you can do for our environment as an and individual.
Once again, I thank Arlingtonians for their participation in this Fresh AIRE initiative. I am encouraged by the number of people who are working to solve or at least mitigate the problem of Global Warming.
Paul Ferguson, Arlington County Board Chairman