Board of Supervisors Adopts Historic Community Energy and Sustainability Master Plan

On Tuesday, Occoquan District Supervisor and Vice Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors Kenny Boddye carried a motion to adopt the county’s first-ever Community Energy and Sustainability Master Plan (CESMP). This comprehensive document represents over a year of effort by the Office of Sustainability, the Sustainability Commission, and the many community members who provided feedback along the way.

“After over a year of research and refinement, our Sustainability Commission and Sustainability
Office, working with the community, have produced the County’s first plan for addressing climate change head-on,” said Supervisor Boddye.

Once adopted, it will become the roadmap for implementing the Climate Mitigation and Resiliency Goals laid out by Supervisor Kenny Boddye in November 2020. The CESMP obligates no taxpayer funding upon adoption, and instead creates a framework of priorities for county staff to begin analyzing to help curb greenhouse gas emissions and improve climate resiliency.

“This is a climate action plan, a resiliency plan, and an environmental justice plan,” said Supervisor Boddye upon reviewing the CESMP. “It will give County Staff the policy tools to begin managing our community’s growth from the lens of good environmental stewardship and sustainability. We will be able to become a leader in tackling the climate crisis while making our most vulnerable communities more resilient.”

Several of the Sustainability Commission’s recommendations moved into the research phase in Spring 2023 with the passage of Supervisor Boddye’s Fast-track Climate Actions Directive; two of the three directives received unanimous approval. Here are the first, second and third resolutions approving these fast-track measures.

“I’m disappointed that the Republican minority on the Board chose to ignore the recommendations of their own appointees by voting against the CESMP,” Boddye said. “The cost of inaction is too high: continued reliance on polluting fossil fuels, higher energy costs over time, and our communities being even more vulnerable to extreme weather. Here in Prince William, we are already seeing our stormwater management systems become overburdened. This plan will put us in league with other jurisdictions that are taking the lead on creating a more sustainable future for generations to come.”