Some Good Earth Day News

The wave of a very different future will break over our heads very soon. Global climate change, Peak Oil, greatly diminished water resources, the many results of our industrial age, overdevelopment, overpopulation, and our free ride on cheap fossil fuels will be the powering force for that wave. Those places that are preparing now for this future will be the places that offer their residents the best chance at making it into this future. The Green Guide has published their list of the Top Ten Green Cities in the U.S. 2006, just in time for Earth Day 2006.

As The New York Times has reported, in the absence of federal direction, cities across the country are taking environmental stewardship into their own hands and reducing their burden on the planet. Mayors are even working to lower greenhouse gases: As of March 28, 2006, 220 had signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which now covers urban areas housing 43.8 million Americans.

Our metro areas can be the focus of many ills—from layers of asthma-inducing smog to pesticide exposures and gas-wasting sprawl. Yet, being tightly packed also allows them to run more efficient public transportation and creates a tax-base for green building and environmental programs smaller communities can't afford. Thomas Jefferson famously expressed his distrust of cities, but now, along with community gardens and other green spaces, some of the rural virtues he extolled have finally found their way into urban life. (My emphasis.)

The choices are made using the following criteria: Air Quality, Electricity Use and Production, Environmental Perspective, Environmental Policy, Green Design, Green Space, Public Health, Recycling, Socioeconomic Factors, Transportation and Water Quality. The GreenGuide began this ranking last year, has made it more comprehensive this year and extended it to the top twenty-five cities. Check it out: is your city on the list?

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