At the NACo Green Economy conference held last week, Montgomery County was recognized for its innovative and progressive practices to “green” the County’s economy.  The “Green Government Initiative” was a tool created by NACo to encourage local government officials to develop green government policies and practices.   The goals of the initiative were as follows,

Increase education and outreach on all things green;

Help educate counties and help them educate the public;

Promote environmentally preferable purchasing;

Facilitate an open dialogue with the private sector; and

Reverse misinformed opinions that green techniques are too costly or of lesser quality

Some of Montgomery County’s accomplishments in this area were

• Selection in March 2009 by Governor Martin O’Malley of Montgomery County as the new home for the Maryland Clean Energy Center (MCEC);

• Creation by Leggett in March 2009 of a Green Economy Task Force to help the County create opportunities for new and existing “green” businesses, spur innovation, increase employment and develop next generation technologies;

• Opening of the Bethesda Green Business Incubator via a partnership between Montgomery County and local, green, non-profit Bethesda Green;

• Creation in March 2010 of a report by the Green Economy Task Force detailing 19 specific recommendations to help the County organize private investments, develop policies and create partnerships that will nurture its green industry;

• Creation of the Montgomery County Clean Energy Buyers Group, comprised of County jurisdictions and agencies, that is one of the largest green power purchasers in the nation. The Group recently increased its annual purchase to 161 million kilowatt-hours (kWh), boosting its ranking to number four on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Top 20 Local Government list and 22 on their National Top 50 list;

• Support of an 11-member Nonprofit Energy Alliance enabling them to purchase clean energy from Montgomery County based green energy supplier Clean Currents in May 2010

For more information on Montgomery County’s green projects, click here.