Associate Professor of Sociology Eric Bonds
Associate Professor of Sociology Eric Bonds, who is a founding member of Fossil Free Fredericksburg, penned an op-ed for The Free Lance-Star entitled Commentary: Acting on climate change has benefits beyond carbon emission reduction.
In December 2019, Fredericksburg’s city council made commitments to power all city operations with 100% renewable energy by 2035, and to shift away from fossil fuel-derived energy across the city by 2050.
Fredericksburg and its public schools have taken some important steps to achieve these goals.
For instance, the city has hired a new sustainability coordinator to help lead this effort. Further, both the city and Fredericksburg Public Schools are working with an energy service company to increase efficiency and eliminate energy waste. The city is also replacing some of the conventional vehicles in its fleet with hybrids, and is conducting a strategic assessment to explore cost effective ways to replace vehicles at the end of their use cycle with electric cars and trucks. The city is also partnering with the Local Energy Alliance Program to run a Solarize campaign, which makes adding solar panels on rooftops easier and more affordable for homeowners. In another exciting development, Fredericksburg Public Schools is purchasing ten new electric school buses. Read more.