Yes! Weekly’s Amy Kingsley takes a look at the Greensboro City Council’s environmental record:
The city council’s environmental record is as divided and unpredictable as the failed 2006 motion to prune the tree ordinance. Issues tackled by the council have included funding for public transportation, watershed protection, greenway preservation, bicycle and pedestrian facilities and, of course, trees……
In the last two years, the city council increased taxes to fund expanded public transportation, approved a bicycle-pedestrian plan and supervised the opening of a waste transfer station. The local Sierra Club’s Cool Cities Group is lobbying the council to sign the US Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement, a document stating the city would reduce its carbon emissions in alignment with the Kyoto Accords, an effort that’s been well-received by most of council.
Though the story is clearly in favor of the city’s efforts to save the environment, it’s interesting nonetheless. But the ‘hook’ is hilarious: A restaurant owner planting two trees in a parking lot along one of Greensboro’s busiest thoroughfares.
Then there’s council member Florence Gatten, who wants to expand city bus service, wants the city to look at carpool lanes and wants employers to provide incentives for employees who use public transportation in order to deal with the “air quality” issue:
“That’s the one thing people are not willing to listen to here,” Gatten said. “People have just turned a blind eye to the air quality issue. It’s not something that people are willing to come to grips with.”
