Playing Fast and Loose with Colors:

BEHOLD!

This is the headline that greeted me on the front page of the local section of today's paper.

One would have to be forgiven for reading the headline and concluding that while more green buildings are being built, they obviously cost more, and so aren't economically feasible in a downturn/recession/depression/whatever, blah blah blah.

Thing is, it's not the cost of the buildings that's going up, which becomes clear when you actually read the article. In fact, as the article states a couple of times, the building costs range between competitive with and equal to traditional construction. What's going up is the rent that property owners can charge, based on the cache that "green buildings" now carry.

Nice deceptive headline, though. This is a deeply conservative part of the state, as redundant as that generally is, so it's understood, but is it too much to ask that the local paper be at least a little more honest in how it presents stories?

Then again, it may not matter anyway. Virginia Beach, lo and behold, is now officially a "green destination," despite offering, well, nothing in the way of green changes, developments, plans, etc.

How, you may wonder, did VB become a green destination?

"A few months back, the Virginia Green program told the city it would approve the moniker if 20 restaurants, 12 hotels, one attraction and the Virginia Beach Convention Center could be certified as places working toward environmentally conscious habits."

Let me get this straight: 20 restaurants, 12 hotels, one "attraction," whatever the hell that means, and the VBCC start working toward environmentally conscious habits, and this city of nearly half a million -- so clearly represented by the overwhelming preponderance of edifices and organizations -- oh, and an "attraction" -- working toward environmentally conscious habits becomes a green destination.

Scaling downward, Richmond would need about half of that -- so, say, 10 restaurants, 6 hotels, a half of an "attraction," and, say, the Coliseum or something, start working toward environmentally conscious habits, and boom! Richmond is also a green city.

Working toward.

Why does it feel like people are cutting out the lights when they leave the room? Nothing necessarily meaningful, just, you know working toward a solution.