EarthLab: 2007 Top Green U.S. Cities

Climate crisis community EarthLab.com releases scoring data reflecting members’ personal impact on the environment

Last week the EarthLab Foundation, announced its 2007 list of the Top 10 Green Cities in the United States. Chicago tops the list followed by New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Rounding out EarthLab’s Top 10 Green Cities List are Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin and Portland.

The list was based on a sampling of 1,062,197 U.S. residents who have used EarthLab’s Carbon & Lifestyle Calculator, which gained attention this past summer as the featured calculator for Live Earth, SOS, and has since been featured in association with Leonardo DiCaprio’s documentary The 11th Hour, 2007 Prime Time Emmy awards and the Alliance for Climate Protection led by its Chairman, Al Gore. 

The EarthLab calculater, called the Earth Conservation Plan (ECP), factors in an individual’s residence, energy consumption, personal transportation and commute habits, travel schedule, work, recycling and lifestyle habits to establish one’s carbon footprint. The ECP is unique in that it is the only calculator available that allows consumers to save their results upon completion of the three minute test. It then allows the user to make energy saving pledges over time and track the reduction in their footprint.

"It is exciting to see that our members, city by city, state by state mobilize to take the initiative, embrace change and commit to making a difference in the world they live in," stated Anna Rising, Executive Director of the EarthLab Foundation. "The message is loud and clear. The greening of America is upon us, whether your score is 250 or 400, taking the first step of raising your personal awareness by taking the ECP test is the key — the key to a heightened awareness allowing individuals to then make educated, personal choices based on factoring in their environmental impact."

 TOP 10 GREEN CITIES        ECP SCORE         CARBON OUTPUT

                                                       (Tons of CO2 Annually)

     1   CHICAGO, IL                  262                 8.14

     2   NEW YORK, NY                 264                 8.34

     3   BOSTON, MA                    265                 8.57

     4   LOS ANGELES, CA           271                 8.76

     5   PHILADELPHIA, PA          274                 8.82

     6   MINNEAPOLIS, MN          279                 8.96

     7   SAN FRANCISCO, CA       282                 9.07

     8   SEATTLE, WA                    283                 9.18

     9   AUSTIN, TX                      288                 9.24

     10  PORTLAND, OR                289                 9.39

 

         NATIONAL AVERAGE              325                 15

     *Based on a sampling of 1,062,197 U.S. residents