Gov. Timothy M. Kaine yesterday issued an executive order implementing a broad range of eco-friendly, energy-efficiency measures in Virginia government designed to reduce energy consumption and the carbon footprint of state operations. Executive Order 82 requires that state-owned or leased buildings meet “green” certification standards and mandates increases in the use of recycled office supplies and renewable fuels. It also calls for cutbacks in the costs to heat, cool, light and irrigate state-owned facilities.

Virginia and The Nature Conservancy have purchased 4,188 acres of land within the wild Dragon Run watershed from the Hancock Timber Resource Group, according to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. The purchase brings the total land conservation under Kaine to 335,000 acres. His goal is to preserve 400,000 acres during his term. “The purchase of this property will add significantly to our protected state forest land,“ Kaine said. “It will also ensure that this ecologically important land will never be developed and will be enjoyed by Virginians for generations.“

One of the signature components of green-energy legislation pushed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine—reducing electricity consumption in Virginia 19 percent by 2025—started out as a mandate. Virginia lawmakers removed it when they unanimously passed Senate Bill 1248 last month. Seeking compromise, Kaine has amended the legislation and reinstated the 19 percent reduction—but only as a goal and not an order.

The ill winds of a national recession shouldn’t stop Virginia from becoming more energy-efficient and creating jobs in pursuit of conservation and environmentally friendly power, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said yesterday. “There isn’t any reason, when times are tough, just to kind of retrench,“ Kaine said. “We ought to be looking to innovate. And I want to make the last year of my governor’s term a year that’s very focused on energy and the environment.“