Austin Ranked as One of the Top 10 Greenest Cities
Posted by Crystal Olenbush on Friday, July 31st, 2009 at 8:17pm.
The city of Austin and its residents have long been recognized for their commitment to live a "greener" lifestyle. As such, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that the city was recently listed as one of the top 10 greenest cities by The Mother Nature Network.
Founded in 2008 by Chuck Leavell, who is the keyboardist for the popular band Rolling Stones, The Mother Nature Network is dedicated to educating people regarding eco-friendly business practices, transportation options, lifestyle choices and more. The network included Austin in its list of green cities largely because of the city's Climate Protection Program, which is the city's plan to be carbon-neutral by 2020, as well as its electric utility Austin Energy. Austin Energy is a leader in the country when it comes to renewable energy and is the largest provider of renewable energy in the country.
"Austin is a green city because of our engaged community, and we hope our residents will continue to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions," commented the director of the Austin Climate Protection Program, Ester Matthews.
Other cities to make the list included:
• Chicago, Illinois
• Seattle, Washington
• Berkeley, California
• Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Eugene, Oregon
• Oakland, California
• Boston, Massachusetts
• San Francisco, California
• Portland, Oregon