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Popular Science recently released their list of the Top 50 Green Cities in the U.S. Did Jacksonville make the cut?
Link to story/site: http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2008-02/americas-50-greenest-cities?page=1 How the Rankings Work: We used raw data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Geographic Society’s Green Guide, which collected survey data and government statistics for American cities of over 100,000 people in more than 30 categories, including air quality, electricity use and transportation habits. We then compiled these statistics into four broad categories, each scored out of either 5 or 10 possible points. The sum of these four scores determines a city’s place in the rankings. Our categories are: * Electricity (E; 10 points): Cities score points for drawing their energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass and hydroelectric power, as well as for offering incentives for residents to invest in their own power sources, like roof-mounted solar panels.
* Transportation (T; 10 points): High scores go to cities whose commuters take public transportation or carpool. Air quality also plays a role.
* Green living (G; 5 points): Cities earn points for the number of buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, as well as for devoting area to green space, such as public parks and nature preserves.
* Recycling and green perspective (R; 5 points): This measures how comprehensive a city’s recycling program is (if the city collects old electronics, for example) and how important its citizens consider environmental issues. Popular Science List - Top 50 Green Cities in U.S.
1. Portland, Ore. 23.1
America’s top green city has it all: Half its power comes from renewable sources, a quarter of the workforce commutes by bike, carpool or public transportation, and it has 35 buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.
2. San Francisco, Calif. 23.0 3. Boston, Mass. 22.7 * CASE STUDY: Grass Power
Boston has preliminary plans for a plant that would turn 50,000 tons of fall color into power and fertilizer. The facility would first separate yard clippings into grass and leaves. Anaerobic bacteria feeding on the grass would make enough methane to power at least 1.5 megawatts’ worth of generators, while heat and agitation would hasten the breakdown of leaves and twigs into compost. 4. Oakland, Calif. 22.5 5. Eugene, Ore. 22.4
* Electricity: 10.0 Transportation: 4.7 Green Living: 2.9 Recycling/Perspective: 4.8 * CATEGORY LEADER: Electricity
Much of the wet Pacific Northwest draws its energy from hydroelectric dams. But Eugene draws an additional 9 percent of its municipal electricity from wind farms. It also buys back excess power from residents who install solar panel 6. Cambridge, Mass. 22.2
7. Berkeley, Calif. 22.2
8. Seattle, Wash. 22.1
9. Chicago, Ill. 21.3
* CATEGORY LEADER: Green Space
In addition to the 12,000 acres Chicago has devoted to public parks and waterfront space, the U.S. Green Building Council has awarded four city projects with a “Platinum” rating, its highest award.
See how Chicago's power plants produce twice the energy with a third the carbon, here. 10. Austin, Tex. 21.0
11. Minneapolis, Minn. 20.3
* CASE STUDY: Citizen Enviro-Grants
If you’ve got a world-saving idea, the City of Lakes will give you, your church or your community group the money to get it done. Twenty $1,000 mini-grants and five $10,000 awards were distributed last year to programs ranging from household power-consumption monitors to “block club talks” about global warming. A similar initiative has sprung up in Seattle. 12. St. Paul, Minn. 20.2
13. Sunnyvale, Calif. 19.9
14. Honolulu, Hawaii 19.9
15. Fort Worth, Tex. 19.7
16. Albuquerque, N.M. 19.1
17. Syracuse, N.Y. 18.9
18. Huntsville, Ala. 18.4
19. Denver, Colo. 18.2
* CASE STUDY: Green Concrete
Fly ash, a by-product of coal-burning power plants, usually ends up in landfills. Researchers at the University of Colorado Denver found a way to reuse this industrial by-product. They add it at concentrations of about 20 percent to a new green concrete mix. The addition of fly ash also reduces the amount of sulfur- and carbon-spewing concrete production needed to finish a job. The mayor has signed an executive order requiring the use of green concrete in new city projects, and a $550-million infrastructure bond makes demand for the mix likely to grow. 20. New York, N.Y. 18.2 * CATEGORY LEADER: Transportation
More than 54 percent of New Yorkers take public transportation to work, beating the next-best metropolis, Washington, D.C., by 17 percent.
See how New York City turns its tides into electricity, here. 21. Irvine, Calif. 18.1
22. Milwaukee, Wis. 17.3
23. Santa Rosa, Calif. 17.2
24. Ann Arbor, Mich. 17.2
25. Lexington, Ky. 16.8
* CATEGORY LEADER: Recycling and green perspective
Lexingtonians recycle everything from surplus electronics to scrap metal, and they listed the environment as their third most important concern (behind only employment and public safety)—the highest ranking in our survey. 26. Tulsa, Okla. 16.7
27. Rochester, N.Y. 16.1
28. Riverside, Calif. 16.0
29. Springfield, Ill. 15.7
30. Alexandria, Va. 15.7
31. St. Louis, Mo. 15.0
32. Anchorage, Alaska 14.4
* CASE STUDY: Power-Saving Streetlights
Since Anchorage spends a good part of the year buried under highly reflective snow, it doesn’t make sense to keep the street lamps at full bore when moonlight can do the job. The fix? Install citywide dimmers. On top of that, the city is planning to upgrade its 16,000 streetlamps to either LED or induction bulbs, depending on the results of computer simulations designed to find the type of light that helps humans see best and disturbs wildlife the least. The swap should be complete by year’s end, and the initial $5-million investment is expected to save up to $3 million in energy costs annually. 33. Athens-Clarke, Ga. 14.1
34. Amarillo, Tex. 14.0
35. Kansas City, Mo. 13.8
36. Salt Lake City, Utah 13.5
37. Pasadena, Calif. 13.2
38. Norwalk, Calif. 13.0
39. Laredo, Tex. 12.9
40. Joliet, Ill. 12.0
41. Newport News, Va. 11.9
42. Louisville, Ky. 11.9
43. Concord, Calif. 11.9
44. Fremont, Calif. 11.3
45. Elizabeth, N.J. 10.5
46. Livonia, Mich. 10.2
47. San Bernardino, Calif. 10.2
48. Thousand Oaks, Calif. 10.2
49. Stockton, Calif. 10.1
50. Greensboro, N.C. 10.0
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Where's Jacksonville? What would it take for our city to make a progressive list like this? |
March 3, 2008, 6:16 am
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
Electric Mass Transit, fueled by LFG or Land-Fill-Gas. This is an untapped source of free power for our future mass transit needs, and perhaps freeway lighting. Methane will leak upwards (a strong, poison, greenhouse gas) from old landfills or even swamps for thousands of years. England experiences this in cities built over ancient bogs. New fuel/power companies, can drill our old landfills and one average City size mound can produce enough power for 35,000 homes... forever???.... well, for a long, long, time. This would more then power a complete Trolley System, a Skyway, our suburban trains, and perhaps even our streetlights. Methane is not super clean as it still produces CO2, but the cool thing about the new system is the CO2 is captured and recycled into the wells, which returns to methane... It's win, win, as what is left, is a clean burning, super fuel.
Oregon uses recycling as a summer job and job-for-homeless program. With the legion of homeless downtown, why not issue them bright color vests and send them out to clean up the city, the mess they pick up can then be converted into many bi-products which have a $$ value. One of the disadvantages to Florida life is the "I'm from _______ (fill in the blank) so Florida is NOT my home, and I don't give a damn!" attitude of many. When they see us, our summer students, our homeless, our needy, out there busting butt for a clean green city, we would soar in rank.
Tidal Generation? Hey Ya'll, have you EVER tried to tie up the boat under the main street bridge? Either way the flow, it better be off the bow, because the current is hard enough to swamp a craft with a stern line to an anchor.
Push the window with local perks for alternate fuel cars, filling station pumps and total electric. While it's true that the USDOE and FL have programs to give you $$ rewards for these vehicles there is no real incentive to make it happen at the dealer levels. Follow California on a local basis, up the Florida standards in JACKSONVILLE. Going to sell a car or fuel here and want the good money? PLAY BALL. Want a big break? Want to skip the meters? go green vehicle.
Transit Riders with more then 6 monthly passes in a year should be able to use the old passes for a break in their taxes, fees or other city services like credit cards. It doesn't have to be a great deal, simply enough to help out and say thank you for riding.
ANYONE ELSE?
Ocklawaha
March 3, 2008, 8:31 am
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
What would it take? A good, swift kick in the pants by the almighty himself
It comes as no surprise to me that two Oregon cities are listed. Those are definitely a class of people that respect their surroundings (I married one
March 3, 2008, 8:32 am
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
Jacksonville needs a few more democrats for mayor and city council before they crack the top 50. It is probably currently ranked about 400 now. How many people in Jacksonville take public transport, bike, or walk to work? Probably less than 1%. NYC...a real city...was at 54%. Now that's a city.
March 3, 2008, 8:35 am
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
The south just sucks. I think that is the problem. The only southern cities on this list were in VA, KY, and AL...oh and Greensboro. I think only 7 of the 50 cities were in the south. More proof that the south is cheap because it sucks.
March 3, 2008, 8:59 am
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
I'll chime in here if nobody gives me beef about climate change.
Good news for Jacksonville: The city is hiring a Sustainability Officer who will, amongst other things, administer the new Green Building Ordinance which will hopefully get signed soon. The ordinance will fast-track LEED certified buildings for permitting and pay back a portion of the certification fees.
COJ is poking around the edges of talking about the US Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement, and forming a climate action plan. There's a really smart staffer talking to us and the Sierra Club about all that and hopefully some good will come from our meetings.
JEA is responding to state and federal pressure to mitigate their carbon emissions. By responding I mean they know that eventually they'll have to start thinking about using less coal. They're looking into other methods, such as landfill gas and otherwise improving efficiency where they can, and looking into demand-side management. Things like that.
FAU (I think that's right) is actively studying tidal power generation down south.
But that's about it. And to qualify this good news: the Green Building Ordinance is not going to have much of an effect. The city already has fairly quick permitting processes and the paybacks for cert. fees are minimal. Both COJ and JEA are in reactive positions environmentally, not proactive ones. They will wait until outside pressure forces them to change. The cities on the SciAm list are much more proactive...except perhaps New York, which is green with the transit almost by default. It's impossible not to use public transit there! But, Tony Allegretti keeps bringing up what gridlock can do to spur positive development. Maybe we'll eventually change our sprawly ways or at least connect our subdivisions with greener transit.
I'm not holding my breath though. I'm just trying to grow some damn food.
March 3, 2008, 9:25 am
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
Water conservation is one Jacksonville needs to address. The fact that Duval does not use reclaimed water for lawns is just bad. We have been given the St. Johns as a resource and we need to be good keepers.
March 3, 2008, 10:02 am
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
"Where's Jacksonville? What would it take for our city to make a progressive list like this?"
Here's the answer:
1. Progressive public leadership (Mayor, Council)
2. Progressive bureaucracy (utility, transportation, economic development, etc.)
3. Progressive private leadership (corporate, developer)
4. Progressive citizenry -- let's face it, users of this board are among an enlightened minority in this 'burg
Not much in Jax is progressive. How to get there?
March 3, 2008, 10:08 am
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
Try going to a plumber here and inquiring on grey-water systems to be installed in your home. They look at you like you have 4 heads. Not only do we not use reclaimed water, but anyone can have a well installed to siphon water out of our underground acquifers to spray all over driveways, streets, and into our sewer drains...and that's the water that didn't evaporate into the atmosphere while being used at 12:30 in the afternoon in 90 degree weather.
Hmm, maybe JEA and JTA need to get together since it's apparant by JTA's promotion of BRT that they are NOT considering carbon emmissions.
March 3, 2008, 1:26 pm
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
"Where's Jacksonville? What would it take for our city to make a progressive list like this?"
Still stuck in a 1950's reactionary mentality. We need progressive leadership.
If we are the "The Sunshine State" why is solar energy not mandatory on the construction of every new residential development? JEA recently spent 18 million dollars for the purchase of land in the Avenues to build a new 518 million dollar power plant. What if we instead took that 518+ million dollars and purchased and installed solar panes on the 40,000 homes that the construction cost would cover. And then turned that newly purchased land in to parks and greenways... Na, too progressive.
March 3, 2008, 1:29 pm
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
I know a plumber who can help you with greywater. I've been meaning to call him lately myself.
Oh man, if any pair of city agencies like the JEA and the JTA would work together I would be so freakin' happy. We're still working to get the city to agree to commit to take an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions. If that were the case they would look at both transit and electricity use and see clear opportunities for reduction in both areas. Which might, in a perfect world...or I guess I mean a rational world, influence decisions like BRT vs. lightrail, or at least make them purchase hybrid buses, or ramp up their biodiesel production (the city already makes its own biodiesel from waste veggie oil, which is awesome!). A lot of the efficiency improvements they'd have to make would save money as well.
March 3, 2008, 2:09 pm
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
Where can I purchase biodiesel?
March 3, 2008, 2:17 pm
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
Err...they make it for the city fleet. They don't sell it to the public. Sorry! My friend Linda gets hers from Lake City. I've been meaning to try making some, it's just a rather toxic, trial-and-error, pain in the neck, and I don't have a big, well-ventilated garage. As much of a pain as it might be, it seems like less of a hassle than converting my mercedes to run on straight veg oil.
March 3, 2008, 2:36 pm
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
I wouldn't call the people of Jax progressive, but they did vote for the better Jacksonville plan which was very progressive. I think the people of Jax will consider supporting plans that may require sacrifice and want this to be a city on the rise. Wonderful mix of people from different places with different faces. I wonder where we would be if Peyton had not been guiding us through the real estate boom.
I have lived my life on the westside, riverside and even Middleburg so I know we are not cosmopolitan yet. Jacksonville is a city that can and I believe will change for the better. Judging by the increased influence MJ seems to have our growth will become better thought out.
(Rainbows and sprinkles free of charge.)
March 3, 2008, 10:03 pm
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
Hey Jersey Boy you need to learn to count. Only 6 were in the NE and about half of the country lives up there. The whole list doesn't make sense anyway. Denver is on there for flyash? We have been doing the same thing with our coal fire plant in the Ville for almost a decade now (Titan, formerly Separation Technologies, Inc.). We don't just call it "green" and pat ourselves on the back. People make decisions with their wallet. I've looked at solar and you know what? It's too expensive. When it gets cheaper, which it will, I'll buy in.
NYC? I love the smell of smog in the morning. They know how to recycle though, they send it all to Jersey! I like the methane solution Ocklawaha. Since Jersey is just one big garbage dump, maybe we could just pipe into that big fart bag up there and run the whole country!
March 4, 2008, 1:18 am
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
Why are you still here? BTW, we get it -- you hate Jacksonville and the South. Well, guess what... We hate you too. Now please leave. I will personally pay for a U-Haul to move you and your crummy possessions back where you came from. Either return to your Jersey paradise immediately or quit whining.
March 4, 2008, 9:53 am
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
I am also sick of hearing about Austin. Oooh its sooo progressive. A bunch of oil babies that never left college trying to hug the latest trendy cause. It's TEXAS, what do you think paid for all that progressiveness? How about Portland? It's a fine town and all, I've been all over Oregon and it's beautiful but I just read yesterday that some nut jobs burned down houses because they weren't really "green" enough. Now how does burning down houses in the name of the planet make any freakin sense?
We've got some problems here but not like most places. We have the biggest park system in the nation and lots of trees (carbon eaters). Most people I talk to list the river as our number one asset and they have a real interest in taking care of it. I think Riverkeepers is one of the best ideas and generates a lot of support. But for the most part this green thing is individual choices. It has to make economic sense and it is starting to get there.
March 4, 2008, 10:10 am
Re: America's 50 Greenest Cities
Just to clarify, they weren't burned because the houses weren't green enough, they were burned because the housing subdivision was built in an eco-sensitive area. Meaning, some developer came in and put up housing where there was otherwise, nature.
I agree, burning the houses doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense. Now, more trees are going to have to die to replace the lumber used in making those houses. Not to mention the toxic gases that they must've released into the atmosphere by burning the air conditioners, all the adhesives, paints, and other building materials not meant to be burned. I can think of a million and one ways they could've made their point without being destructive, but hey, if they did it my way they wouldnt' be considered "eco-terrorists" now would they?
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