The Changing City Scape: The Green Future

Here are some interesting green ideas being tried by municipalities throughout the country:

• Braddock PA's Mayor John Fetterman is working to revitalize the  rustbelt town by repurposing abandaned buildings, and encouraging carbon caps and green technology.
• Seattle WA uses goats to clear away berries and bushes that are toxic to other animals around hydroelectric plants.
• San Francisco CA Mayor Newsom's administration has established edible gardens throughout the city, including the City Hall front lawn.
• Portland OR started community bicycling in 1994, which I'm proud to say San Antonio is in the process of implementing.  Hopefully the San Antonio operation will work well enough to prevent theft and vandalism.
• Boston MA is collecting and turning leaves and yard clippings into power and fertilizer.  San Antonio already turns brush into mulch and raw sewage into into gas for turbines, but Boston is going a step further by using anaerobic bacteria to break down the organic waste for power.  They eventually want to create power from all household garbage.
• Chicago IL has more than 2.5 million feet of roof top gardens, more than all other American cities combined.
• Fort Collins CO provides zero interest loans for sustainability minded home improvements such as solar heating, water efficiency upgrades and more efficient washing machines.
• Anchorage AK during the winter dims the light because they can see by the light of the moon.
• Oakland CA is slowly replacing its bus fleet with hydrogen-powered models.  Each new bus will save 130 tons of CO2 emissions annually.
• New York NY is testing tidal turbines to harness the power of the ocean for electricity.

It's good to see that cities are taking the lead in the green revolution.