Eco-Friendly Initiative Proposed For Fairfax

Connolly said many pieces of the initiative are underway. Two "green" fire stations that recently opened make use of clean energy sources and were built in part with recycled materials. The county government obtains 5 percent of its electricity from wind power and operates 90 hybrid vehicles. It has purchased thousands of acres, including the 3,200-acre former Lorton prison site, for the purpose of conservation.

And supervisors will consider investing as much as $2.5 million in energy conservation in the coming year, according to a budget proposal under consideration.

Such existing efforts raise questions about what is new in Connolly's initiative and whether it is largely about generating publicity for a politician poised to launch his bid for a second term. But Connolly said there is more to be done in Fairfax: A fleet of 3,600 vehicles can be replaced with less-polluting vehicles over time; an inventory of more than 400 buildings, including schools, can be retrofitted or replaced over a generation; an area of 400 square miles presents opportunities for land conservation and tree-planting.

Connolly also said the larger purpose of his initiative is to export programs underway in Fairfax to other parts of the country. "This puts us on the national scene, so it's no longer only about the local effort," he said.

Among the counties working with Connolly and the Sierra Club to develop the Cool Counties program are Washington's King County, which includes Seattle, and Illinois's Cook County, which includes Chicago. The initiative is expanding a program that began in Seattle in 2005 and that 418 municipalities across the nation have signed on to -- including Alexandria, Chevy Chase and the District. Participants have pledged that by 2012 they will reduce carbon dioxide emissions 7 percent from 1990 levels.

The Sierra Club's Cool Cities director, Glen Brand, said the accord is a good "starting point" for the organization's goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent by 2050. But governments have to follow through on their promises, which can require such costly up-front investments, Brand said.

Most mayors, Brand said, "really don't have a clear idea of what to do next. And so the leadership is there, but the execution is really more important than signing the agreement."

Similarly, the Clean Counties initiative should be judged, in part, on how it measures success, he said.

Connolly's chief of staff, Dominic Bonaiuto, said those details remain to be worked out. Connolly said he hopes that Cool Counties' goals will be more tangible and far-reaching than its municipal counterpart.

Staff writers Bill Turque and Miranda S. Spivack contributed to this report.