See below for video from 350 Fairfax of last night’s “North County” candidate forum on the environment. Participants were, from left to right: 1) Walter Alcorn (Hunter Mill District), 2) Laurie Dodd (Hunter Mill District), 3) Shyamauli Hauth (Hunter Mill District), 4) Maggie Parker (Hunter Mill District), 5) Linh Hoang (Providence District), 6) Edythe Kelleher (Providence District), 7) Philip Niedzelski-Eichner (Providence District, 8) a surrogate for Dalia Palchik (Providence District), and 9) Erika Yalowitz (Providence District).
Following opening statements, questions included:
- “What would you do to increase vehicle fuel efficiency in Fairfax County?”;
- “Would you support a ban on single-use plastic bags, would you support requiring restaurants to use compostable materials for their to-go boxes?”;
- “Will you commit to requiring renewable energy and energy efficiency for all new construction and major redevelopment and what actions will you commit to to bring renewable energy and energy efficiency to people earning less than $75,000 a year?”;
- “If elected do you pledge to consistently resist repurposing parkland to build county facilities?”;
- “Can you identify three specific initiatives that you would support for Fairfax County, and talk just briefly about cost and practicality, three specific initiatives for greenhouse gas reduction?”;
- “Would you support calling for raising inside temperatures to address the warming issue?”;
- “Would you consider extra taxation or outright outlawing of lawn fertilizers and chemicals which further degrade our ecosystems and water quality including adverse effects on the Chesapeake Bay?”;
- “How would you prioritize air quality in the county?”;
- “How would you improve the waste management system in Fairfax County?”;
- “What opportunities do you see for making it safer to have bicycles share the road with cars in our county?”
Good answers for the most part on this absolutely crucial issue; glad to see all the candidates (except for Dalia Palchik and Parker Messick) attended this important forum! Also, see here for a list of upcoming environmental forums in Fairfax County, including the South County Supervisor Candidate Forum on the Environment on May 9 at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Burke.