Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille paid a visit to Congress Tuesday to testify about the citys Eco-City efforts for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New Economy.

Testifying with four different governors, two mayors and an Arkansas state representative, Euille spoke briefly about what Alexandria has done and plans to do to become a more environmentally pro-active community, in addition to submitting a letter into the congressional record.

The city government on its own has already done things in terms of demonstrating our commitment to going green at the new T.C. Williams High School, which is a LEED Gold certified building, and the new fire station at Potomac Yards, which is another example of a totally green building, Euille said.

The mayor said that he also explained some of the citys new efforts, bolstered by about $1.3 million in federal stimulus funds, to train people to fill green jobs as weatherization technicians and energy auditors, as well as converting street lights and traffic signals to energy efficient LED lamps.

Euille and the other elected officials were invited to testify about their experiences as the Senate committee discusses the economic benefits and opportunities for job growth from clean energy and climate-related policies associated with a pending piece of legislation.
The committee wanted to hear from mayors and governors in terms of their take on this we were invited to talk about our Eco-City program, Euille said.

The conclusion is that [the legislation] is being widely supported by a broad base of Democrats, and Republicans are more against it, Euille added. They fear that this advocacy to create green jobs is going to have an impact on already existing jobs.