Virginia and England's first partnership was founded on the lucrative cash crop of tobacco.
Today, 400 years later, the commonwealth and the United Kingdom came together under a different kind of green.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Sir Nigel Sheinwald, the British ambassador to the United States, signed an agreement to work together to reduce greenhouse gases, research low-carbon, renewable energy technologies and raise public awareness on the global issues of climate change.
"Virginia and the UK recognize that climate change is a global phenomenon and combating it requires global partnerships," said Kaine, speaking at a signing ceremony with Sheinwald at his office in the Capitol in Richmond.
"This agreement will bring together Virginia and UK researchers, entrepreneurs, and environmental educators to achieve greenhouse gas reductions, promote energy efficiency and independence, and promote the development of a green economy."
The U.K. has signed similar agreements with California, Florida, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Kaine and Sheinwald said there was good reason for the latest partnership.
Virginia provides more than $1 billion in defense industry related goods and services to the UK. And the 10,000 jobs created by British commerce in the state make England the largest foreign investor in terms of manpower to Virginia's economy.
Sheinwald marked the day - the 200th anniversary of Chalres Darwin's birth - by saying the agreement represented "the need to follow science and adopt in our politics a type of approach" to global climate and related economic issues that is based on science and reason.
"We're entering a new era as far as climate and energy is concerned," the ambassador said.
The UK has become a leader in the European Union on the green energy front. Once a mainstay of its energy generation, coal accounts for only 10 percent of its current energy supply, with 20 percent coming from nuclear power, 60 percent from gas and 5 percent generated through renewable energy.
The island nation produces more energy from offshore wind generation than any other country. Selling a green economy in the U.S. and Virginia may be tougher than in the UK, however.
While Kaine said he favors a national framework to place caps and trade carbon emissions, the Southern Governor's association, which he chairs, is lukewarm to the idea. Virginia also relies heavily on coal to generate its power.
In response to a question, the governor said yesterday said he had "not seen enough to make me believe" that a proposed new coal-fired plant in Surry County is necessary.
A handful of Kaine's "green bills" promoting tax credits and the use of alternative fuels have passed the state Senate, but face an uphill battle in the House of Delegates.
Still both the governor of Virginia and the British ambassador said yesterday's agreement was another step toward bringing the commonwealth and the U.S. around on the issues of climate change and renewable energy.
"You can change the atmosphere from the outside as well as from within," the ambassador said, referring to the importance of public awareness to bring change to the corridors of Washington, D.C.
Kaine said that none of the 10 largest solar energy companies are in the U.S.
"The energy path the nation has been on is not a sustainable one," he said.
Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or jnolan@timesdispatch.com.
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