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to promote civic engagement in the Philadelphia region.Philadelphia Environmental Plan Is Pitched as a Job Creation Program
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 2:41 pm - by Its Our City Staff. Filed under: Planning.
by Jason Kleinman
Wouldn’t it be nice to walk through an urban oasis surrounded by open space, fresh farmer markets, and clean air? According to Mayor Michael Nutter, this is exactly where our city is headed. This morning, Nutter formally unveiled Greenworks Philadelphia, his plan to make Philadelphia “The greenest city in America” by 2015.
The plan is an ambitious attempt to make the city more environmentally-friendly. It consists of 15 specific goals broken down into different categories that aim to increase energy efficiency, reduce the city’s carbon footprint, create more equitable access to healthy neighborhoods, and spur the economy through the creation of green collar jobs.
The plan encourages more use of car share programs
According to some of the targets laid out in Greenworks Philadelphia, by 2015 the city will:
-Purchase and generate 20% of electricity used in Philadelphia from alternative energy sources
-Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% below 1990 levels
-Provide park and recreation resources within a 10 minute walk of 75% of residents
-Bring local food within a 10 minute walk of 75% of residents
-Plant 300,000 new trees so that tree coverage will be increased to 30% in all neighborhoods by 2025
-Double the number of low and high skill green jobs
Civic Engagement is one of the five key strategies of the plan
According to an article in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer, the overarching goal of this plan is not just to help the environment, but to reposition the city as a leader in the new economy. Mark Alan Hughes, director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, stated, “This is really an economic development strategy. This is about jobs.” Hughes will be a guest on WHYY’s Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane tomorrow (Thursday) at 10:00 am. This is an opportunity to learn more about the mayor’s new plan and ask Hughes any questions you may have.
The main question I have for Hughes is about how the city plans on paying for all of this. Some of these improvements will pay for themselves, but others will be costly. Nutter can hope that the city receives a nice chunk of change from the stimulus money, but what happens if that doesn’t cover everything? Where will the rest of the money come from? What goals will be cut if funding isn’t available?
Jason Kleinman is an intern for It’s Our City and a Master’s of Public Policy candidate at Rutgers University.
April 29th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
The main question I have for Hughes is about how the city plans on paying for all of this.
>>Wrong question. If you look at the goals and how we get there, a lot of it simply requires a change to how things are done in the city. Notably around green buildings, Council needs to enact legislation increasing the minimum environmental standards for buildings. Green roofs = paid for by private sector but with incentives from public sector. The ‘how will we pay to do right,’ POV frankly is a dated, if not naive perspective that doesn’t consider the economic benefit that comes from doing things more sustainably/efficiently. Imagine for instance if the new convention center had been built green - every year the city would be paying LESS in utility costs, but the city will now be burdened paying much more than it needs to because of shortsightedness and the belief that green in costly.
April 29th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Where will the rest of the money come from? What goals will be cut if funding isn’t available?
>>And this seems to be a uniquely Philadelphia/PA pov. “Where’s mine and how do I get more of the pie.” This is really a self-defeating welfare-like mentality. Sustainable means exactly that - including financially sustainable. Things that have positive ROIs and make environmental sense are where you start - white roofs, green roofs, or solar - for any location one makes more sense from an ROI perspective, but people and the city as a whole shouldn’t expect handouts to pay for things which will have a positive payout - incentives to get people over hurdles, yes, but that doesn’t mean some outside funding entity pays for the greening of Philly.
May 3rd, 2009 at 10:16 am
The 3 job sites chosen by about.com as getting the best results for job seekers -
http://www.linkedin.com (professional networking)
http://www.indeed.com (aggregated listings)
http://www.realmatch.com (matches you to jobs)
good luck to all.