Portland #2 Green City in the World
Portland Business Journal - 11:01 AM PDT Friday, July 27, 2007
It's not easy being green, so Portland has to settle as the No. 2 greenest place in the world, as judged by grist.org.
Seattle-based grist.org is a Web site that provides green issues and sustainable living news and podcasts.
The site lists 15 cites around the world that are the greenest places.
"These metropolises aren't literally the greenest places on earth -- they're not necessarily dense with foliage, for one, and some still have a long way to go down the path to sustainability. But all of the cities on this list deserve recognition for making impressive strides toward eco-friendliness, helping their many millions of residents live better, greener lives," the site reports.
Portland was selected as No. 2, behind Reykjavik, Iceland, because "Portland is the first U.S. city to enact a comprehensive plan to reduce CO2 emissions and has aggressively pushed green-building initiatives. It also runs a comprehensive system of light rail, buses and bike lanes to help keep cars off the roads, and it boasts 92,000 acres of green space and more than 74 miles of hiking, running and biking trails."
Portland is in good company. The remainder of the list includes Curitiba, Brazil; Malmö, Sweden; Vancouver, British Columbia; Copenhagen, Denmark; London; San Francisco; Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador; Sydney, Australia; Barcelona, Spain; Bogotá, Colombia; Bangkok, Thailand; Kampala, Uganda; and Austin, Texas.
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