1. Foreign Policy and Domestic Consumption: Some commentators have suggested that there may be a connection between terrorist attacks and the US propensity for over-consumption and other excesses in our own domestic and foreign policies. Do you think there is an open enough climate in the Virginia legislature to honestly question basic economic and cultural priorities?

Answer: Yes, the Virginia General Assembly is the longest, continually sitting democratic body in the world. The attacks were simply unacceptable terrorism against America. We must protect our civil liberties, but we must also protect our lives with strength, organization and resolve.

2. Domestic Safety and Sustainability: Do you think there are sufficient contingency plans in place in case the distributions of food, energy, and other basic goods and services were temporarily halted by terrorism or some other emergency? How might the state encourage the development of self-sufficient, sustainable communities?

Answer: I do not know the level of preparedness in the Commonwealth. Given the sacrifice of many basic budget items in the last Governor's budget, I would hazard a guess this needed some investigation. I have worked for sustainable communities for the past eight years. The first step would be to initiate the discussion in question #1. The interconnectedness of our lives will mean that to be self-sufficient, we need to change our idea of what is "sufficient". A sustainable community uses no more of the existing resources than necessary to insure those resources are available for future generations. When we developed the Sustainability Accords, over 600 people came together to discuss, agree/disagree, and work toward a consensus of fifteen Accords. Opportunities for state leadership include:

· Developing state-wide sustainability accords
· Recognizing the financial savings and benefits from sustainability
· Providing information on how to be sustainable
· Implementing sustainable practices at the state level
· Providing incentives to sustainable communities such as putting this criteria in grants. This would cost no more since the grant system is in place, but would add the criteria to securing the funds.

Nancy O'Brien (electronic mail, November 8, 2001)