Photo illustration by Kyle Talley
A year ago, Laura Thomas was named director of the Office of Sustainability and charged with spearheading RVAgreen 2050, the city’s equity-centered plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help the community adapt to climate-related problems like heat and flooding.
Asked for an update, Thomas says, “The biggest announcement is the $6 million grant our office and four Black-led community-based organizations (Groundwork RVA, Southside ReLeaf, Happily Natural and Virginia Interfaith Power & Light) just received to support urban greening.” In addition, the first Neighborhood Climate Resilience Grants have been awarded, the city has joined programs to help commercial property owners finance energy and water conservation projects and to help landowners control erosion and runoff, and key personnel have been hired.
“Overall, we have completed 12% of the action items in RVAgreen 2050 since adoption,” Thomas says. For an overview of the plan, visit rvagreen2050.com/what-is-rvagreen-2050.
