Dive Brief:
- WalletHub has released its list of the greenest cities in America for 2018.
- San Diego; San Francisco; Washington, DC; Irvine, CA; and San Jose, CA topped the list, while Memphis, TN; Toledo, OH; St. Louis; Corpus Christi, TX; and Baton Rouge, LA rounded out the bottom five.
- The credit report company assessed the 100 largest U.S. cities on four main topics: environment, lifestyle and policy, transportation and energy sources. Within those categories, cities were judged on 26 "green" indicators including smart energy policies, amount of green space, greenhouse gas emissions per capita, percentage of commuters who drive and green job opportunities.
Dive Insight:
By ranking cities in this way, the survey highlights how cities have taken action to protect the environment and mitigate climate change. Cities increasingly report going it alone with such efforts in light of decreasing support from state and federal government, such as the United States pulling out of the Paris climate agreement and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) freezing auto emissions standards.
The trend isn't just happening in the U.S., either. City leaders around the world report taking more localized action on climate change and other traditionally non-local issues including immigration and trade.
In the U.S. green cities survey, unsurprisingly, four of the top five cities are in California. That state is viewed as a leader nationally on environmental issues, and continues to take steps to counteract the federal government's current policies. For example, California released a plan for its own, stricter vehicle emissions requirements following the EPA's standards freeze.
