Mayor Vincent C. Gray Presents Vision for a Sustainable DC at Town Hall
(WASHINGTON, DC) – Mayor Vincent C. Gray today presented his newly released Vision for a Sustainable DC to an audience of community members and volunteers active in the Mayor’s Sustainable DC Initiative. The announcement took place at the Florida Avenue Baptist Church, the first African-American church in the District to install solar panels.
The vision, an important milestone in the Mayor’s Sustainable DC initiative, intends to transform the District into the healthiest, greenest, and most livable city in the United States. After seven months of community outreach and engagement, the Mayor laid out his ambitious goals for improving the District’s built environment, climate, energy, food, nature, transportation, waste, water, and the green economy. The goals are nation-leading and benchmarked against cities across the country.
“We are at a unique point in our city’s history,” said Mayor Gray. “After decades of declining population, we now have more than a solid decade of growth behind us with the possibility that we could return to our historic population high with 250,000 additional residents in just 20 years. We have a choice to either grow in a way that benefits our residents, our economy, and our environment or to allow historic inequities to continue to divide our city. I believe the choice is clear and we must plan for One City that is greener, healthier, more livable, more prosperous and more equitable.”
Mayor Gray was joined by the Rev. Dr. Earl D. Trent, Jr.; Office of Planning (OP) Director Harriet Tregoning; District Department of the Environment (DDOE) Director Christophe A. G. Tulou; members of the Mayor’s Green Cabinet; the Sustainable DC Green Ribbon Committee; Sustainable DC working groups; and other community members.
The Sustainable DC initiative will develop and implement a strategy to:
• Broaden and diversify the District’s economy and the range of available employment and business opportunities for residents;
• Reduce disparities related to income, health, employment and education across the city; and
• Ensure a high quality of life and a clean environment for our residents, workers, and visitors.
Focused on the “triple bottom line” of simultaneously promoting economy, community equity, and the environment, the Vision for a Sustainable DC includes aggressive, actionable goals across nine areas that have been the focus of input and analysis by over 700 volunteer participants in Sustainable DC working groups. The plan also focuses on cross-cutting issues of jobs and health.
Mayor Gray thanked the Sustainable DC volunteers and members of the public for offering hundreds of recommendations to help grow healthy food, build green homes and schools, and expand jobs and business opportunity. “We’ve received innovative ideas and common-sense recommendations from all corners of the District,” he said. “Working together, we will make this vision a reality and build a better future for our city.”
The vision will provide direction for the next phase of development of the more detailed Sustainable DC implementation and action plan, which agencies, community representatives, businesses and members of the public will refine over the next six months. Mayor Gray noted that the city is building on a proven track record of commitment to, and leadership in, sustainability in the public and private sectors.
Mayor Gray also focused on a series of “down payments” toward the full sustainability plan. He announced an initial legislative package that will help lead the way for green businesses, restore the environment, and protect vulnerable populations and indicated that further legislation would follow completion of the Sustainable DC implementation plan.
He also highlighted commitments currently in place by his administration to rapidly green the city’s building codes, replace all city streetlights with high-efficiency models, expand Capital Bikeshare, roll out the District’s first new streetcars and complete the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail.
Finally, Mayor Gray highlighted his commitment of funds in the proposed Fiscal Year 2013 budget to jump-start programs that will deliver immediate benefits and further the goals of the Sustainable DC implementation plan.
For more information about Sustainable DC and the Vision for a Sustainable DC, visit sustainable.dc.gov.