Citizens Agenda on the Environment

Being “green” is part of this city’s DNA. From its founding, Philadelphia was meant to be a “Greene Countrie Town,” set between two rivers, nestled into Penn’s Woods.

As big, brawny and brawling as Philadelphia became, something in the city’s soul always aspired to live at respectful ease with nature, to preserve its legacy of urban forest and flowing rivers, to let green beauty feed its spirit.

That aspiration found its voice in the 2007 city elections, as issues of environment – preserving parks, reducing energy use, building “green” – moved toward center stage as never before, pushed by groups such as the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia Parks Alliance and PennFuture’s Next Great City project.

Environmental issues aren’t just a preoccupation of comfortable suburban elites, worried about preserving open space near their homes or trout fishing in a nearby stream.

Depending on where you live, the term “environment” brings to mind different points of urgency. From many corners of this city now rises a cry to fight the creeping ugliness, to pick up litter, thwart graffiti, clean trash-strewn lots, plant shade trees on broiling blocks. These, too, are environmental issues.

The ideas in this agenda are urban and practical. They seek not only to heal the land and clean the water; they also attack the disorder that breeds crime and ruins neighborhoods.

Citizen forums made it clear: People all over the city thirst to live with beauty, to be part of William Penn’s green vision.

Living up to that legacy is not easy. Our bad habits are many. These goals have long been low on the priority list, so finding the will and money to achieve them is hard. Some core pieces of the environmental agenda – such as global warming – clearly are beyond the ken of a single city government to solve. But that’s not an excuse to avoid the steps that a city can take to do its part. Moreover, the city has the power to do many things that will heal its own environment and model good behavior to its citizens.

As a bonus, these actions can also boost the city’s economic strategy and help lift up its hardest blocks.

Working to be “green” can, to quote the most famous Philadelphian of them all, make a city healthy, wealthy and wise.

The following steps could help:

The No. 1 Priority

Preserve and enhance the Fairmount Park System.

Why it matters: Creating the Fairmount Park system was the wisest environmental decision Philadelphia ever made. The park system allows the city to breathe. It protects the watershed. Its smaller parks bolster neighborhoods’ spirits and property values. But this jewel of a system is a political orphan, underfunded, threatened by development, and subject to meddling.

What to do: Set the city’s target for park funding at 1 percent of the city budget (which would equal $38 million in 2008, compared to the actual $13 million). On top of that support, let the park keep all revenue it raises. Add staff; invest in neighborhood parks. Change the City Charter to enable the mayor to appoint an accountable, qualified, strategic Park Commission. Attract a “John Timoney” to run the system, a top, entrepreneurial professional with a national reputation.

Near-term actions

Take that, Ray Nagin: Let the city, civic groups, schools and individual citizens join in an immediate, urgent and sustained anti-litter blitz, so that New Orleans’ mayor can never call our city filthy again. Raise fines for littering, and enforce them. Create service learning and jobs programs for youth to combat litter near where they live. No other idea spawned more energy and consensus at citizen forums than an attack on litter.

A smaller footprint: Take all available steps to reduce the city’s own energy use: a hybrid car fleet and expanded use of car-sharing services; low-energy lighting; greening city buildings; etc. Such leading by example also saves money.

Curb runaway runoff: Spare the city’s ancient sewers and soggy basements. Tell City Council to support new Water Department rates that would charge large businesses for the runoff they cause, as a spur to redo paved spaces to limit runoff.

Green lots of lots: Fully fund ($4 million a year) Philadelphia Green’s program to clean, green and maintain vacant lots so that it reaches all distressed neighborhoods. Protect the program from political meddling in the contracts it gives to civic groups to maintain lots.

Made by the shade: As a start on reviving the urban forest, replace the 23,000 street trees the city has removed since 2001 ($8 million cost). Build civic expertise on how to plant trees properly.

Go to market: Support expansion of fresh-food markets selling local produce, particularly in neighborhoods ill served by supermarket chains.

City of murals: Expand support for the Mural Arts Program, a superb anti-graffiti program. Residents of troubled neighborhoods see murals as a vital way to bring beauty to their environment.

Long-term efforts

Yes, we can cans: Commit to increasing city’s pathetic 6 percent residential recycling rate to 35 percent (roughly the national average) by 2011. This would save $17 million a year in landfill fees. Expand the RecycleBank pilot program that used customer incentives to more than triple recycling rates in Northwest Philadelphia.

LEED the way: Weave the LEED standards of the U.S. Green Building Council into the new zoning code being written, offering incentives to developers to build green. As an interim incentive before the code is done, offer fast-track approval to green projects.

Embrace GreenPlan: Finish work on the city’s new strategy to protect and expand green spaces in all city neighborhoods. Seek public-private partnerships to execute the plan.

Healthy rivers: Embrace the Civic Vision for the Central Delaware’s ideas for carefully planned, green riverfront development to protect the river from runoff pollution.

Ideas from citizen forums

Train the trashmen: Citizens complain that sloppy work by city sanitation employees often leaves as much trash on the street as gets put in the truck. And they want city government to lead by example, by maintaining its properties well.

Dogged devotion: Create more dog runs at parks and recreation spots. These help keep animal waste off streets and create good neighborhood gathering spots.

Teach green: The city’s schools and civic leadership should embark on a public education program about all the choices citizens can make to keep their environment clean and healthy.