Mr. Clean

Fairfax’s Chap Petersen is the founder of 50 bills in the state senate supporting clean energy technology. Here’s why, besides being the darling of local environmental organizations, he’s one of Virginia’s favorite sons

By Renee Sklarew

Chap Petersen (Photography by James Kim)

Chap Petersen has Virginia roots that go back to ancestors who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg. This married father of three juggles a law practice in Fairfax City with a state Senate position in Richmond. His mission: Find ways to support the growing energy needs of Fairfax County while helping Virginia’s heartland create jobs. Walking through Fairfax, constituents stop Petersen, 40, to show off grandbabies or shake his hand. He’s known for pushing revolutionary ideas through a traditional legislature, while remaining the consummate Virginia gentleman.

You were born and raised in Fairfax County. How has the county changed?
Today, Fairfax has a population of 1.1 million. When my mother’s great-uncle was the congressman back in the ’20s, and up until 1940, the population was 40,000. It absolutely exploded during World War II. It’s kind of leveled off now. Most of the growth is in Prince William and Loudoun. Fairfax is pretty built out. As a result, and anytime you have over a million people, Fairfax County functions like a small state. There’s a tremendous amount of industry and economics that frankly supports the whole state. We have a world class university, in George Mason, and we have ethnic groups and restaurants of every description. It’s really changed.

Tell us about the Fairfax of your childhood.
When I was a kid, Fairfax was very middle class, suburban. My high school, like most in the area, was 90 percent white. Like that show “The Wonder Years,” playing football in the backyard, Mom would call you in for dinner, you’d do your homework, watch “Happy Days” on TV. It was that era. Fairfax was pretty conservative when I grew up. It was solidly Republican in terms of presidential elections, and even when I first ran for legislature in this area. I was the first Democrat to represent this area in the House of Delegates.

You compare serving in the state senate to being a parent?
It doesn’t pay money, really, but you do it because you love it. Hopefully you’ll look back on it and say, “That was the most significant experience of my life, or one of them.” You’re trying to build something for the future. Just like a parent. When your kid calls, you drop everything, because that takes precedence. It’s the same way with representing people. You have to put their needs above yours. That’s what you do, if you do it right.

How did you become interested in energy use in Fairfax?
It’s broader than the county. First, energy usage will be the key driver for the next-generation economy. We are in the last days of the current-generation economy, and the next few years we’re going to see new industries and new consumer markets. People that step forward to build those are going to be the ones creating jobs. I got interested in energy as a lawyer. I represented both the utilities and the consumer groups. I learned a lot about the industry. What became apparent to me, as the science of global warming became more accepted, was we needed a different method to fuel our economy; a move away from fossil fuels to clean fuels and renewable energy.

After I lost the race for lieutenant governor in 2005, I was out of the system for two years. It was a great break both politically and intellectually. I sat down and thought: If I do get back in, what’s my mission? Then I wrote a platform called Virginia 2.0. I whittled it down to key issues. It was based on books I’d read and research. How do we position this state to be on the front edge of research and energy production, on the front edge on land conservation? When I was elected in 2008, I put together the Clean Energy Future Act. It was the first comprehensive energy bill. Not just building new power plants, or ramping up more coal fire, but a plan to move away from fossil fuels and toward a clean energy future.

What’s the next step for you?
I’ve filed a number of bills. Most have to do with encouraging LEED-certified building materials. For example, anytime we put up a new structure, [we] minimize energy use and preserve water and other natural resources. I also have a bill which sets a target for energy use to 90 percent of 2006 levels on a per capita basis. It’s very ambitious and unlikely to pass this year. I filed it, because our growing consumption for energy in Virginia is what’s driving the current system. Until we bring consumption under control, we’ll continue to build more power plants, string more transmission lines and emit more carbons into the atmosphere.

How can the average consumer consume less?
People can smart meter their own homes, and utilities can smart meter their own grids to monitor the way they use energy. People don’t need all their appliances turned on, or all their lights or office computer on. …We compensate utilities based on how much they produce, but they have the technology to use less and produce energy more efficiently. I’d like to pay them for how well they produce, not how much. These are broad, sweeping thoughts which have launched 50 pieces of legislation. That’s my focus this session: producing clean and renewable energy, improving efficiency and promoting building that uses energy-efficient technology.

Are your policies limited to Fairfax County?
When I ran for lieutenant governor, I traveled all over this state. In the Western part we have a lot of natural resources: forests, farms and a lot of coal. My idea is to marry the assets on the Western part of the state to serve energy demands of the Eastern part. We can hopefully create clean energy in the West with biofuels, ethanol, wind, geothermal. Use it on the Eastern part, and create jobs on the Western side. That’s my grand vision for the state.

Why do environmental groups give you high marks?
I worked closely with Chesapeake Climate Action Network last year. I have a long relationship with Virginia conservation voters, old friends in Sierra Club. We don’t agree on every issue. They promote a viewpoint, but at the end of the day, I’ve got to provide balance. I like to think they think of me as their spokesman on a lot of their issues. They’ve been very helpful to me at elections, I won’t deny. I’m honored to get that help.

What is your position on clean coal?
Coal is a natural resource that’s prevalent in Southwestern Virginia and has been for 125 years. It’s not enough to simply say, “No more coal.” It may be that clean coal technology can come online in the next 10 years; I don’t know enough to call myself a skeptic.

I know there are scientists that believe it can, and some that believe it cannot in terms of the captured-sequestered technology. But what I would tell environmentalists is, before you put coal out of business, recognize its role in the regional economy. Tell people how we’re going to replace it, whether it’s with ethanol products or maybe a completely different job sector. It’s a tough issue in Virginia, because several counties are coal-dependent.

What alternative energies make the most sense and why?
At the macro level, wind is a huge asset for this state. Coastal wind off of Virginia Beach could provide up to 20 percent of our energy load within the next generation. We have one of the best locations for wind energy in the United States. On the micro level, the individual homeowner level, it’s geothermal technology. I am working on a bill to deregulate geothermal technology, so people can install geothermal heaters in their houses without bureaucratic red tape. I believe they can save a ton for people who install them in new homes.

How about retrofitting old homes?
I live in a house built in 1927, a classic example of an old house with no central air. So in the summer we have two window units. The whole family sleeps in those rooms. We have been debating whether to renovate our house to do all these things, but it costs money.

In this economy, everything is uncertain. I understand these levels on a personal side, too. My family has to make all the same decisions. I’d love to build a house with natural light and geothermal heating, but it’s a question of, Can I afford it?

(June 2009)

Tags: Chap Petersen, clean energy, environment, politics, senator