Try, try again

Our editorial on May 21 suggested that Fauquier strive to become "America's Green County," and, if the commentary has done nothing else, it has enlivened the page on which it originally appeared.

Since that editorial, a new occasional columnist with an environmental slant has come on board, and we have received and printed a number of thought-provoking letters addressing energy conservation, "eat local" initiatives, oil company chicanery, and other aspects of the environmental/energy mess in which this nation is mired.

Words. That's about the extent of it.

Nothing from the Warren Green, nothing from town hall, though, to be fair, the town council is still licking its frustration wounds over the county's seeming reluctance to respond to the trash-to-gas proposal which, as far as we can tell, has considerable merit.

Could it be that other counties read our this hometown newspaper more closely?

A county-appointed advisory committee to develop recommendations about conservation, energy efficiency, and public education is now in place in Clarke County, for instance.

Supervisor J. Michael Hobert, who serves as the group’s liaison with the board of supervisors, said the goal is to have the ideas ready in about six months.

Rappahannock County is reportedly developing a questionnaire designed to establish environmental and conservation benchmarks for its residents. Presumably, the survey will be used to help them do even more for the cause.

Fairfax? Its board of supervisors is considering a plan to institute a four-day work week for county employees, a scheme to save energy by powering down computers and heating and cooling systems.

Fairfax is also investigating the wisdom and feasibility of expanding the area around its schools within which students would be expected to walk to classes, thus saving on bus fuel.

Perhaps there is some discussion of these and similar innovations taking place in Fauquier, and we just haven't gotten wind of them. Then again, perhaps those conversations are not taking place.

And shame on us if that's the case.

There are practical considerations for getting them started, of course. If gasoline goes to $8 a gallon, as many are predicting, the budget ramifications will be huge. The cost of heating homes this winter is likely to overwhelm a lot of our residents — and our Department of Social Services.

On a more philosophic level, Fauquier County is beginning to edge out of the "solutions" side of the equation in which we have always resided into the "problem" side.

While we're delighted with the community's verbal and written response to our May 21 editorial — we make our living with words, after all — actions speak louder.

America's Green County? We'd better get moving.