Global LifeScience Ambassadors

In our peak oil, post-Katrina world, how do America's largest cities stack up in terms of sustainability?

Which cities are more self-reliant and better prepared for our uncertain future? Which cities are operating business-as-usual?

How Green is Your City? is the outcome of a sustainability study involving the largest 50 cities in the US, compiled by SustainLane in 2006. This study, also known as the SustainLane US City Rankings, measures each city's performance in 15 areas of urban sustainability. Among these areas:

• Public transit use
• Air and tap water quality
• Planning/land use
• Affordability
• Energy/climate change policy
• Local food/agriculture

The resulting comparisons provide a snapshot of urban sustainability in the US today. Leading the pack is Portland, Oregon, with its high quality of life and commitment to green building, local food, alternative fuels and renewable energy, while Columbus, Ohio, with its dependence on the automobile and poor public transit, ranks at the bottom.

How Green is Your City? serves as an in-depth analysis of each major city's management policies, strengths and challenges, as well as a survey of where clean technologies might break new ground to expand job-markets and tax-bases across the country.

How Green is Your City? will appeal to city planners, legislators, green businesses, as well as anyone interested in their quality of life and making their city a more sustainable place.