By David A. Fahrenthold
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 31, 2007

The Washington region is one of America's most "green" urban areas. You just can't swim in the rivers. Or jog in the smog. And, er . . . is traffic a problem?

So went the mixed messages yesterday at a conference on the region's environmental credentials, portraying Washington as a place with sterling intentions for the Earth but having significant trouble keeping the air and water clean.

Business and civic leaders, including Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and District Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), heard that the region is a national leader in buying hybrid cars and constructing energy-efficient buildings.

But, attendees conceded, the recent green fervor has not solved such old problems such as polluted rivers, creeping sprawl and rising emissions of greenhouse gases.

"Acceptance of the problem is the first step," said Paul Ferguson (D), chairman of the Arlington County Board.

Yesterday's conference was hosted by the Greater Washington Board of Trade, an economic booster group, in ballrooms at the downtown Grand Hyatt. Titled " 'Green' as a Competitive Advantage," the event was intended to show that Washington's new green ways could make money for the region -- and for the people in the ballrooms.

Among the region's bona fides: Washington area residents bought 223 hybrid cars for every 100,000 residents last year, which ranks them ahead of such famously Earth-friendly cities as Boston and Chicago. The area also has one of the highest numbers of buildings registered or certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Program, a leading arbiter of green construction.

And, conference speakers said, the region is jammed with "green-collar" workers, such as environmental engineers, conservationists and wildlife biologists. There are 13,970 of them here, far more than in other big cities.

Taken together, the conference's organizers said, these factors make Washington a good place to attract well-educated young workers. For them, Board of Trade President James C. Dinegar said before the conference, a clean region is a prized amenity: "It's sort of the next foosball table," he said.

Already, some employers are backing up that perception. During one panel, Lee Edwards of BP Solar said his company keeps its solar-panel factory in Frederick because of the region's skilled workforce.

"We're investing because of one reason: We have the know-how" in this area, Edwards said.

But, conference attendees said, Washington's eco-reputation is still undermined by the state of the environment here.

The area has 23 days of elevated air pollution a year, according to one statistic yesterday, which was more than seven times Boston's total. Its residents spent an average of 33 minutes commuting -- even longer than Los Angeles commuters -- and many of them spend it in pollution-spewing cars. And the Potomac River, the Anacostia River and the Chesapeake Bay are all plagued by pollution.

For these reasons and others, many outside experts have ranked the Washington area behind such places as Chicago, New York, Seattle and San Francisco on lists of green regions. These lists often look at such factors as the number of parks, use of public transit, air pollution and plans for tackling climate change.

"We're a work in progress," said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the District-based Coalition for Smarter Growth. "We probably have a lot of catching up to do."

Both Kaine and Fenty spoke yesterday about their plans for closing the gap. Kaine said Virginia was paying millions more to clean up the Chesapeake, looking for cleaner energy sources and researching plans to store carbon dioxide -- a major greenhouse gas -- in old coal mines.

Fenty talked about a push for greener buildings in the District, including environmental design elements at the new Washington Nationals baseball park in Southeast.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) was supposed to attend the conference but canceled because of a special legislative session on his state's budget. "He had an additional green issue to deal with today," a conference emcee said.