If you're an Arlington resident you probably receive the weekly Sun Gazette in your mailbox. If you're not, or you missed the last two issues, there have been two recent letters to the editor that deserve note. On January 8, Josh Ruebner, who ran as the Green Party candidate for county chair last year had a letter published entitled "County Can Do Even More for the Environment." Then last week the Sun Gazette published a response from a former county resident who now lives in Florida. I would like to applaud them both: first Josh, for his environmentalism and by bringing more interest to the county board election (I'm always in favor of more candidates, since each will generally bring important topics to an election); and the respondent, Lisa Nisenson, for her clear and concise response.
The key point of the exchange regarded Josh's argument that overdevelopment in Arlington was leading to environmental decline (he made some other points, too, in support of Paul Ferguson's environmental efforts). Lisa countered--and rightly, in my opinion--that dense development in Arlington actually is environmentally advantageous. No question that density along the Orange Line has made it more crowded, but I disagree with Josh that that's a good reason to force development elsewhere. Any "elsewhere" it goes will result in more roads, more loss of open space, more driving and more greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, let's keep working to improve all the transportation options available in Arlington so that we can accommodate the intelligent proximity of goods, services, jobs and people.
This is my first post to this blog. I'm glad to have the opportunity to contribute and I look forward to an ongoing dialog.
___________________________________________________
By Steve Offutt, Arlington, Virginia
According to a report by Cambridge Energy Research Associates, American drivers actually drove fewer miles on average in 2005 than in 2004. That's the first annual drop since 1980. The difference was small: 13,657 miles per year in 2005, down from 13,711 miles in 2004 - a 0.4% decline. However, being the first decline in 25 years is an unusual event.
