Portland: The Greenest City in America. (As Ranked by Popular Science). Popular Science magainze was recently involved in a study that ranked cities' "greenness" across the nation. They 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.
Portland Ranked Number 1 with a score of 23.1
Electricity: 7.1 Transportation: 6.4 Green Living: 4.8 Recycling/Perspective: 4.8
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.
The top 10 include:
1. Portland
2. San Francisco
3. Boston
4. Oakland
5. Euguene
6. Cambridge
7. Berkeley, CA
8. Seattle
9. Chicago
10. Austin, TX
See the full list at Popular Science's Website.
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