 (Credit: Axcordion/Wikimedia Commons) |
Philadelphia, PA
In his 2008 inaugural speech, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter pledged to make Philadelphia “the greenest city in the United States of America,” a goal some Philadelphians were skeptical about. To achieve his goal, Nutter put together his Greenworks plan, which called for a reduction in city-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent, retrofitting 15 percent of housing, lowering city government energy consumption by 30 percent, and diverting 70 percent of solid waste from landfills. As of 2012, Philadelphia has implemented two thirds of the plan’s initiatives. The plan aims to meet its goals by 2015. Since 2009, the city has installed 85,000 LED traffic signals, provided loans to retrofit over 7,000 homes, planted 65,000 trees, and added 428 miles of bikelanes. |
