What Exactly Does "Going Green" Mean? (The Next Mayor)

As you might have read in yesterdays Daily News, April 5th will be the date of a massive citywide clean-up led by the Mayor. Nutter has challenged residents to remove 1 million pounds of trash from streets and sidewalks across Philadelphia. Marshalling thousands of people to remove litter is a very visible way to show a commitment to the environment, but it's not the only thing the Administration has planned. Nutter has proposed creating an "Office of Sustainability" to coordinate a number of environmental initiatives throughout city government.

The growing awareness of environmental issues has prompted a number of cities to take steps to address climate change. According to a speech given by Professor Kent E. Portney, a professor at Tufts University who studies urban environmentalism, 41 cities have adopted some kind of policy designed to improve environmental practices. This includes several municipalities that have established offices of sustainability. I thought it would be worthwhile to examine what a couple of these offices do and imagine how those practices might be brought to Philadelphia.

One of the oldest offices focusing on sustainability is in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1990, it provides a variety of direct services to residents to promote environmentally friendly behavior. This includes helping residents recycle, encouraging people apply for tax credits available for using alternative energy sources such as wind or solar, and marketing the city as a destination for green tourism. The office also plays a role in economic development through a green building program and working to attract companies that focus on environmentally-friendly technologies.

Another city that has an office of sustainability is Seattle. The office originally focused on internal governmental practices such as reducing the amount of pesticides in city parks, purchasing more fuel efficient cars for city employees, and purchasing recycled paper products for use in all city offices. In recent years, the Seattle has shifted from focusing on government to reducing the environmental impact of the entire city. For example, Seattle now offers tax credits for residents that purchase energy efficient appliances and the city also modified its zoning code to require developers to meet strict environmental standards.

Which of programs make the most sense for Philly? Right now, environmentalism has not exactly been at the top of the political agenda. I think the first step is to make sure that the city government behaves in an environmentally friendly manner. Like Seattle, we should make sure that all of our public offices use recycled materials whenever possible. We could also upgrade our city fleet to include more fuel efficient vehicles-- Nutter has already started by buying a hybrid Chevy Tahoe for his personal transportation. We can start working on more citywide efforts after government has become environmentally friendly.

All of these programs sound good, but it will be difficult for Philadelphia to implement most of them. Why? Well, it's mostly a question of funding. For example, Seattle's office has a $1.8 million budget and a full-time staff of eight people. In contrast, Philadelphia will only have one person and a budget of merely $70,000. It seems pretty unlikely that Philadelphia will be able to accomplish much with such a limited amount of resources. However, both Seattle and Portland started with much smaller offices. The initiatives grew over time as policymakers began to value sustainability.
So here's a question for citizens interested in having more say about how the city spends our money: How much money should we devote to "sustainability?" And what might we be able to give up in order to devote more money to the cause...or should we give up the sustainability cause and use that $70,000 elsewhere? Let us hear from you...it is, after all, your money.