Today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out comes from The Local Energy Alliance Program. LEAP wants you to consider a Home Energy Check-Up as the first step toward lowering your energy bills. For a $45 consultation, Albemarle and Charlottesville residents can have their homes audited to see what can be done to reduce energy consumption. Sign up today!”
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The Virginia Department of Health has reported 2,014 new cases of COVID-19 since our last report on Friday, with 1,114 Saturday, 900 Sunday and 690 today. Add in the previous four days and that’s a seven-day average of 1,037. The seven-day average for positive tests is at 5 percent today, up from 4.8 percent reported Friday morning.
The Blue Ridge Health District has reported 60 cases since Friday, with 28 on Saturday, 16 on Sunday and 16 again this morning. The seven-day average of new daily cases is 23 for the district. For Albemarle, the seven-day average is 4 new cases a day and in Charlottesville that figure is 6 today. The percent positive rate in the district for PCR tests is 3.3 percent today and 3.5 percent for all types of tests.
The University of Virginia will update its COVID-19 tracker later on this afternoon.
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Very late tonight, the Charlottesville City Council will get an update on the city’s climate action plan. Earlier this month, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors adopted a series of goals and strategies to meet the county’s gas greenhouse reduction goals. Now the University of Virginia has unveiled a new ten-year framework to guide the school’s efforts. The 2020-2030 Sustainability Plan has ten goals including reducing waste, nitrogen and water consumption each by thirty percent. The plan also seeks to increase sustainable food by thirty percent and to become carbon neutral by 2030 and fossil-fuel free. (read the plan)
In a letter included in the plan, President Jim Ryan said a key UVA goal is to be a good neighbor, both to the local community and the world at large.
“We should always consider our collective impact on our community and the world,” Ryan wrote.
“But we need to do more than express our commitment to sustainability; we need to follow through on that commitment.”
UVA officials will hold a joint work session with City Council and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors next Wednesday at 2 p.m.
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Today the Community Climate Collaborative (C3) and the Virginia Discovery Museum will deliver “climate action kits” to families whose young children are participating in City of Promise programs. According to a release from C3:
“The kit includes activities to help kids connect everyday actions to climate solutions: a fun scavenger hunt to learn about household energy use at home; a leaf-scratching art project to get outside and learn about the benefits of trees; art materials to decorate a reusable grocery bag; and a recycled egg-carton veggie market with fresh fall veggie cut-outs for imaginative kids to display and “sell“.
The cost for the kits have been covered by C3 and the Earth Day Network. They are aimed at children aged three to eight.
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The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has completed an Environmental Justice Study co-conducted by a Charlottesville group. The work by Skeo Solutions and the Metropolitan Group is intended to provide direction to the agency as it makes a cultural shift.
“Virginia DEQ finds itself at a pivotal moment in history,” reads a portion of the 47-page report. A consulting firm run by former Charlottesville city planner Ebony Walden was commissioned for the study.
“The time is ripe for acknowledgement of environmental justice issues within the Commonwealth of Virginia and adopting a new mindset supporting the advancement of environmental justice through DEQ programs,” the report continues.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.”
Recommendations include strengthening legal authority to integrate environmental justice into DEQ programs, hire more staff to support the mission, and develop tools to provide more information on environmental conditions to the public. For instance, recommendation 5E calls for an expansion of the state’s air quality and water quality monitoring system. (read the plan)
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Tonight the organization Wild Virginia will host a virtual lecture with writer Janisse Ray on the topic What the Pandemic is Teaching Us. Ray is the author of five non-fiction books as well the memoirs Ecology of a Cracker Childhood and Wild Card Quilt.
“I focus on nature and culture always with the eye toward thinking about the stories that people need to hear to open their hearts and their minds,” Ray said.
Ray described the beginning of the pandemic in March as a time just like after a car crash when suddenly everyone involved has to figure out what to do next. She said that’s given many an ability to gain new perspectives.
“It’s allowed us this opportunity to really examine how our lives are working, our marriages are working, our jobs, our family life, you know our town, how’s everything working or not working for us,” Ray said.
Ray said she will talk tonight about how she has used this time to anticipate other issues facing our world, such as the climate change crisis hitting earlier than had been expected. For her, spending time at home made her notice something.
“I did not realize how many airplanes were crossing the sky and how many contrails,” Ray said. “So in so many ways, the pandemic is returning to us ways of life that we’d even forgotten existed.”
Ray said she has spent much of the past 20 years traveling across the country to give presentations. Not being able to do that has led her to realize that so much mobility came at a cost.
“The pandemic has forced us to do some of the things that we have always needed to do for the environment but were unwilling to do,” Ray said.
The free event sponsored by Wild Virginia begins at 7 p.m. tonight. Please register in advance.
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This afternoon, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society will host a concert outside at its headquarters on Market Street Park. The Socially Distanced Brass Quintet will play from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m on the ACHS’s front lawn. The quintet is a component of the Charlottesville Municipal Band.
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Today in meetings, I refer you to the Week Ahead newsletter for full details. But in summary, Charlottesville’s Council has major items related to the future of subsidized housing in the city. The Architectural Review Board will review a new look for Rio Hill Shopping Center and the Places-29 Hydraulic Community Advisory Committee will get details for another affordable housing project.
The Piedmont Housing Alliance and two other groups are seeking a rezoning to allow for redevelopment of the Red Carpet Inn on U.S. 29 for low income housing, including a repurposing of existing motel rooms to serve as emergency supportive housing. Details in the newsletter.
Finally today, a quick plug for my friend Charlene Munford whose work as a bartender is on indefinite hold due to COVID-19. She’s launched her own cleaning business called Monster Cleaning. I hired her to do some work at my house to handle a difficult job. The work was excellent. Now she has an opportunity to expand her business, but needs financial assistance to help cover the costs of hiring new employees. Go visit her Go Fund Me page to learn more of her story.
October 19, 2020: Climate action, climate kits, environmental justice at DEQ and Janisse Ray on pandemic-related change