County Board
Christopher Zimmerman, Arlington County Board, January 1, 2007
Thank you. I want to congratulate our new Chairman and Vice-chairman. I know they will provide strong and able leadership for Arlington in 2007.
For me, this new year brings a new term on the Board, and I am very grateful to the people of Arlington for allowing me to continue to serve. I would like to thank all my colleagues, as well as the Manager and County staff, along with many citizens, all of whom helped me during my chairmanship this past year. I am very pleased with what we were able to accomplish in 2006, and I look forward with renewed enthusiasm to the four years that, for me, begin today.
I expect to devote much of my energy to three areas that have been major focal points for me throughout my service on the Board; namely, housing, planning & development, and transportation. I also look forward to following up on my initiatives from last year on teen transit, small business, and elder-readiness. And, I am very excited to join the effort announced today by our new Chairman, focusing on energy and environmental sustainability.
Mr. Ferguson calls upon us to do what we can to lower our own contribution to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions; to reduce what some activists call the “carbon footprint” of our government and community.
It is a policy initiative well-befitting Arlington, and well-fitted to the time in which we find ourselves. The Chairman’s program arises naturally along the policy path Arlington has followed for some years, and it responds to a global challenge which our society is now beginning to recognize, perhaps just in time.
I have often said that the work we do here in Arlington to better our community gives us the chance not only to improve our own quality of life, but also to present an example that can be modeled by others, and so extend the reach of our progressive policy efforts.
Or, as the popular aphorism puts it more succinctly, “Think Globally, Act Locally.” Chairman Ferguson’s initiative for 2007 exemplifies that bit of modern folk wisdom.
All of the actions Mr. Ferguson proposes for us to take will enhance our quality of life, and may save us money in the long run. Their real significance, however, lies in their potential for replication in other communities.
As he indicated, the politician who calls for changes in comfortable habits and well-established practices puts popularity at risk. But as the full implications of “peak oil” and the threat of climate change begin to dawn fully on our collective consciousness, the demand for leadership comes ever more sharply into focus.
More than four decades ago, biologist Rachel Carson issued a warning about the unintended consequences of the excesses of our exuberant species “because we have now acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature.” In an admonition that resonates even more powerfully today, she said:
"We still talk in terms of conquest. We still haven't become mature enough to think of ourselves as only a tiny part of a vast and incredible universe. …
"But man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself. . . . Now, I truly believe [she said], that we in this generation, must come to terms with nature, and I think we're challenged as mankind has never been challenged before to prove our maturity and our mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves."
Chairman Ferguson asks that we recognize and respond to this challenge. Surely there is no better place to start than Arlington, and no better time than right now.
Thank you, and Happy New Year.
