SAN FRANCISCO, California, September 22, 2008 (ENS) – Portland, Oregon is in first place again this year in an annual ranking of city sustainability released today by SustainLane, an online guide to sustainable living. This national survey ranks the largest 50 U.S. cities in terms of their green living practices.

Based on 16 economic, environmental and green/clean tech categories, the SustainLane U.S. City Rankings assess each city’s ability to maintain healthy air, drinking water, parks and public transit systems, as well as a robust, sustainable local economy with green building, farmers markets, renewable energy and alternative fuels.

Mt. Hood seen from Portland, Oregon’s
Washington Park (Photo by TravelPortland)

This year San Francisco held on to second place, Seattle is again in third, Chicago ranks fourth as it did last year, and New York City has moved up one notch into fifth place.

“The SustainLane U.S. City Rankings speak, first and foremost, to the local leadership found across America and how mayors and city councils are preparing their cities for resource deficits due to high gas and energy prices, drought, rising food prices and other issues,” says SustainLane Media CEO James Elsen.

The city that has improved the most is Columbus, Ohio – up to 30th place this year from 50th place in 2007.

Las Vegas, Nevada has slipped in the rankings more than any other city into 47th place from 27th place last year.

The lowest three cities are Tulsa, Oklahoma City and – in last place – Mesa, Arizona.

“We’re beginning to see the top and bottom-ranked cities move farther apart, with the cities taking sustainability seriously increasing in desirability nationwide and enjoying better odds of long-term economic prosperity,” said Elsen.

“Specifically, the top 15 cities are creating more vibrant city centers and offer higher quality air, water, food and transportation choices that yield smaller carbon footprints per resident than those at the bottom of the list. We predict that the lower-ranking cities will increasingly struggle to sustain their resident and business populations and local economies.”

Introduced in 2005, SustainLane says its City Rankings have been a catalyst for change, pointing out that both the median and average scores have increased across all cities surveyed since 2005.

Trends marked by the rankings show greener downtown areas, more bicycling, public transit, renewable energy, government sustainability plans, and community groups in large cities across the United States.

Cyclists race in Columbus, Ohio.
July 1, 2007. (Photo by Dorn Byg)

More cyclists are on the streets of Portland, New York, Oakland, D.C., Minneapolis, and Columbus – 12.3 percent more according to the SustainLane rankings.

Cities like Columbus, Oakland and Philadelphia are livening up downtowns and creating areas with high density, mixed use space, infill redevelopment and transit. “This marks a ‘Back to the Future’ historic shift from suburbs back to cities,” according to the SustainLane report.

New light rail and other public transit infrastructure investments are greening travel in Phoenix, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, New York, Detroit, Houston, Albuquerque, Denver, Dallas, Austin and Charlotte, North Carolina.

More city governments are getting up to speed on high level sustainability officer appointments, climate change plans, adaptation studies, biodiesel, green building. SustainLane notes the trend in Houston, Atlanta and Columbus.

New York City resident enjoys the sun in
a community garden. (Photo by Jude Rohn)

Wind and solar energy production and energy conservation are priorities in Boston, San Francisco, Portland, Houston, Austin and Sacramento, and are being looked at as possibilities across nearly every city ranked.

Citizens are joining together to solve problems caused by rising fuel prices and climate change.

SustainLane notes they have created community gardens, livable spaces, and waste solutions such as anaerobic digesters in Seattle, Minneapolis, Denver, San Francisco, Chicago and Detroit.

“It has been proven that good, strong local leadership can directly improve residents’ quality of life,” said Elsen. “During an election year especially, it’s important that Americans applaud the steps taken in their municipalities while asking for even bolder forward steps to improve their communities.”

To see the 2008 SustainLane U.S. City Rankings, visit: www.sustainlane.com

SustainLane’s 2008 City Ranking will be featured at the world’s first green cities and communities conference in Geneva, on October 1, 2008.

The SustainLane US City Rankings methodology is now being adopted internationally; Japan is working with SustainLane to rank their own cities’ sustainable practices in a special report to be released in July 2009 at Japan’s Green Festival in Tokyo.

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HARTFORD, Connecticut, May 30, 2008 (ENS) – Governor M. Jodi Rell has recognized seven individuals and organizations with awards from the Governor’s Steering Committee on Climate Change.

Governor Rell said, “Connecticut has been a leader in addressing climate change by putting strong programs in place to reduce dangerous greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors of our economy. If we are going to successfully meet the challenge of climate change, however, state government cannot do it alone. It will also take the commitment of businesses, local governments, organizations and individual citizens.”

“The accomplishments of those being honored today demonstrate the breadth of strong leadership in Connecticut – from 10 year olds to octogenarians, small towns to large cities, and nonprofit organizations to small businesses and multinational corporations,” Rell said.

Gina McCarthy, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and chair of the Governor’s Steering Committee on Climate Change and other members of the Governor’s Steering Committee presented the third annual climate change Leadership Awards at a ceremony Tuesday at ING’s new energy efficient headquarters in Windsor.

At the ceremony, McCarthy said, “The challenge of climate change is also an opportunity to rebuild our economy on principles of sustainability, including energy efficiency, clean energy, cleaner transportation, local food systems, and carbon neutrality. Those we are honoring today are demonstrating the common sense, practical and cost effective steps we can all take to achieve those goals.”

2008 Climate Change Leadership Award Recipients

CitySeed, New Haven

A vendor at the CitySeed farmers market
in New Haven (Photo courtesy CitySeed)

CitySeed operates four farmers’ markets in New Haven, where only products grown or produced in Connecticut are sold, and established the first year round open-air farmers’ market in Connecticut.

In 2007, vendor sales at these markets contributed over $1.6 million to job creation and the local economy; farmers redeemed over $64,460 in WIC coupons and Food Stamps from local families in need.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture honored CitySeed with its Golden Grocer Award, earned by only one farmers market in the country.

CitySeed has developed a pre-school curriculum and also a website at: www.BuyCTGrown.com that offers a comprehensive guide to local food, farms and agricultural products in Connecticut.

City of Stamford

The city of Stamford has committed to using 20 percent clean energy by 2010 and to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2018. The city is a member of Cities for Climate Protection and signed on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

Stamford has inventoried its greenhouse gas emissions and has a local greenhouse gas action plan. Since 1998, the city has reduced energy use by over 11 million kilowatt-hours annually through energy efficiency projects in city buildings, saving almost $1.3 million a year.

Some of the specific steps the city has taken to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions include solar installations for lighting at Kosciusko Park and at the recycling center; establishing a $6.1 million energy performance contract in more than 20 schools; reducing street lighting and piloting highly efficient Light Emitting Diode, LED, street lights; replacing downtown decorative lighting to achieve a 62 percent energy savings; and replacing all traffic signals with LED lights.

Curtis Packaging, Newtown

In 2007, Curtis Packaging became the first deluxe printing and packaging company in North America to go 100 percent carbon neutral and was the first company in its industry to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

The company also purchases wind energy certificates to offset 100 percent of the electricity used at its facilities. Curtis Packaging structured this purchase to include more than one million kilowatt-hours of CTCleanEnergyOptions, which helped its host community, Newtown, earn a free solar electric system under the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund’s Clean Energy Communities program.

The company’s remaining carbon dioxide emissions are being neutralized by investing in the Mynydd-Y-Garnedd forestry project in Wales and the Rhine-Ruhr methane capture project in Germany.

ING, Windsor

The global financial services company ING provides banking, investments, life insurance and retirement services to more than 75 million customers in Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Australia.

ING is a carbon neutral company. It achieves this through the purchase of clean energy as well as other efforts. Globally, it reduced its energy consumption by 19 percent between 2006 and 2007.

In 2007 ING in the United States purchased more than 70 million kilowatt-hours of clean energy, which offsets 100 percent of the electricity used for its facilities nationwide. This represents the largest clean energy purchase by a company headquartered in Connecticut.

In addition, ING’s new 475,000 square foot headquarters in Windsor features numerous green attributes including occupancy sensors, daylight harvesting control systems, and highly efficient air conditioning.

Green Council at Whitney Center, Hamden

Composed of seniors from the Whitney Center retirement community, the Green Council has promoted conservation awareness in elderly communities throughout Connecticut. This group of senior citizens created a website at www.grayisgreen.org, which provides information on a wide range of environmental issues including climate change and energy efficiency.

The website also contains a list of films and videos for use by retirement communities and a checklist whereby each community can evaluate its green performance.

The group presents at educational forums and has authored and published the “Handbook on Conservation for Retirement Communities.”

The Council recently incorporated a new organization, National Senior Conservation Corps, to extend its work. The group now has links with retirement communities in Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and California as well as many locations in Connecticut.

Little People, Big Changes, Wilton

Little People, Big Changes was launched when Jordan Reichgut and Alex Scaperotta were eight years old. They are now 10 and still working to focus attention on climate change.

These two young boys and their moms have signed up more than 120 homes for clean energy under the CTCleanEnergyOptions program and launched a “no idling” campaign to reduce air emissions from cars, trucks and buses.

Little People, Big Changes has conducted presentations to schools, town officials, and local community groups on clean energy and global warming, and publishes a column in the local newspaper and in school newsletters.

Ridgefield Action Committee for the Environment, Ridgefield

Formed in 2007 to promote sustainability in Ridgefield, the Ridgefield Action Committee led the effort to have this town commit to supporting 20 percent clean energy by 2010 for all town operations.

The committee sponsored a “Mayors Challenge” on clean energy sign ups to six surrounding towns, developed an anti-idling campaign that resulted in 10 percent reductions and helped decrease energy use in town schools by 12 percent.

The committee organized a day-long retreat on environmental sustainability attended by 70 Ridgefield town leaders, including town selectmen, planners and commissioners, Board of Education members, school administrators, students, Chamber of Commerce members, people associated with community associations, and business leaders.

The Connecticut climate change Leadership Awards Program was developed by the Governor’s Steering Committee on climate change. The awards were first presented in 2006. This year’s awardees were chosen from 26 nominations received statewide. To submit a nomination for next year, visit: www.ctclimatechange.com

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Eco-mmunity Map is intended to help people post and find “green resources” so that individuals can attain a sustainable lifestyle, and so that society can collectively lower its carbon footprint. In order to use Eco-mmunity Map effectively to help green the world, it is important to define what is meant by a “green resource.”

Green resources could be many things to many different people but here are a few of the basic categories:

- People Interested In Helping The Environment (Team up with people making a difference or share knowledge on personal techniques for improving the environment)

- Organic Restaurants

- Farmers Markets

- Any store that sells environmentally friendly products

- Green related events like (Earthday Celebrations, Environmental Conferences and Environmental Fund Raising Events.

- Used Merchandise or Pre-owned Shops (Second Hand Furniture, Clothing, Electronics, Book Stores, Flea Markets, etc…)

- Green Investment Firms

- Hybrid Car / Electric Car Dealerships

- Recycling Centers

- Pollution Sites (We have to identify where the environmental problem is, what causes it, and only then can we actively fix the problem)

- Biofueling Stations

- Gardens, Parks, Camping Sites, Swimming Holes, etc… (It is important to enjoy nature and also to bring commerce to botanical gardens, nature preserves and other places where appreciation for nature can generate supportive and restorative activities)

- Green Construction Companies, Green Building Supplies

- Green Buildings (The more popular they become, the more of them people and businesses will build)

- Green related websites, podcasts and community centers

- Alternative energy suppliers and power companies

These are just a few of the potential green resources that can help society become more sustainable. If you know of any green resource, then search the map [www.sundancechannel.com] to see if it is already there. If you find it on the map, consider adding a comment about the green resource. You will find the “comment” button at the bottom right corner of every map marker. If your green resource is not on the map, then we invite you to create a marker now [www.sundancechannel.com]. Keep in mind that you must be logged into Sundance Channel with a user profile in order to create markers. If you want to become a member of Sundance Channel then head over to our Member Sign Up Page [www.sundancechannel.com] and join today.