Although the EPA has not established official criteria for ranking the greenness of a city, there are several key areas to measure for effectiveness in carbon footprint reduction.
These include air and water quality, efficient recycling and management of waste, percentage of LEED-certified buildings, acres of land devoted to greenspace, use of renewable energy sources, and easy access to products and services that make green lifestyle choices (organic products, buying local, clean transportation methods) easy.
Carbon neutral by 2020 — it’s an ambitious goal, but Austin Energy is the nation’s top seller of renewable energy among 850 utility-sponsored programs, which makes its goal to power the city solely on clean energy within reach.
