Imagine Philly as the greenest city in America / Image credit: abbey christine

Tomorrow Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter will release his plan aimed at making his city the most environmentally-friendly city in the United States. The event is scheduled for Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. at the Franklin Institute. The plan comes from his Office of Sustainability headed by Mark Alan Hughes who also holds the title of Senior Adviser to Mayor Nutter.

Philadelphia could be alot of things, but green is not the one that comes to mind. I asked my co-worker Dan Pohlig, who bikes to work and recycles everything he’s see, Is this realistic?

(long pause)

“I think Philadelphia could have the greenest policies of any city, but this area doesn’t have the green mindset deep within the community that places like Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; or Seattle Washington have .”

So, I fire back, Is it shortsighted for the Mayor to set such lofty goals for us?

“No, that’s the job of government, to make big plans and help us imagine what could be if we all get behind it. But it absolutely is going to take the people of the city to get behind this, for it to happen.”

Dan’s views seem pretty reasonable to me. But the last time I heard a mayor lay out a big goal that big was Philadelphia Mayor John Street who proclaimed in October 2005 that he would try to “end homelessness in the next 10 years.” I’d love for us to succeed but somehow government has a way of releasing plans and forgetting about them. But, in this age of blogs, Facebook, and Twitter we all can play a role in reminding ourselves to do our part.

fyi: Mark Alan Hughes will be interviewed on WHYY’s Radio Times to discuss his green plan on Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m.

Related links:

Mayor’s Office of Sustainability

Next Great City Philadelphia (Sustainability advocacy coalition)