By Lance Davis, Maryland LCV Education Fund Board Member

The ability to take ideas from many different sources, and create a new and better concept. This seems to be a lost art in our institutions that make laws and govern. So what is to be done about our elected leaders?

My work week is made up of two special moments. Two days a week I walk past the White House as the sun rises, and regardless of who is sleeping there at the time, I am reminded that I have an opportunity to make a difference today. The rest of the week, I work from home which overlooks the South River and I am reminded that I must make a difference today. The difference I have chosen during my day is making our federal buildings some of the healthiest, efficient, and sustainable buildings in the world. Yes, I am a federal employee, and not all the news out of DC is bad.

In Maryland, we have a building that utilized this integrative process to solve several issues, but namely mitigating stormwater or polluted runoff. This might have been a typical building with a parking lot and office tower. But to do this, a large amount of stormwater would have to be managed to protect the Chesapeake Bay, and at great expense. The team literally flipped this idea over by placing the offices under a planted roof and the parking under the building. This reduced runoff, eliminating the need for additional stormwater management, provided iconic architecture, and most importantly for the taxpayers, saved millions of dollars. To solve hard problems, people have to come to the table.

Maryland LCV Education Fund  is doing just that. We are bringing our elected leaders to the table. Literally. Republican and Democrat. Maryland is a place of hard working people that get to make a difference, from the waterman and farmers that provide food to our homes, to the executives at our financial institutions, and the many residents that are federal and state employees, we all make a difference.

Maryland LCV Education Fund recognizes that we can’t all be there for every issue though. That is why Maryland LCV Education Fund works to educate our elected leaders on the issues that will best enhance the environment in our great state. We also strive to make sure you are aware of what our officials are doing and we score them on how well they are protecting Maryland. We want to get more of our leaders to the table so that they spend time raising the quality of life for us.