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Mayor Daley and his top aides–and by extension most aldermen–are big on the idea of making Chicago the greenest city in the country. In fact, some seem to believe it’ll be true if they simply say it enough. The incantations are now uttered at just about every city event remotely linked to an environmental issue—it doesn’t take much except a nearby trash can and accompanying blue recycling bin—and Tuesday’s joint meeting of the City Council’s finance, environment, and economic development committees was no exception. One after another, aldermen and business leaders described their city as green and getting greener: “one of the world leaders in the green and sustainable economic market . . . “; “the premier green market for the world . . . “; “a model for the world . . .”; “a huge success . . .”; “a leader in the environmentally friendly green cities in the world . . .”; “building on the reputation we’ve already developed . . . “; “more in Chicago than any other city . . . “
The issue, Flores went on to explain, is that city leaders widely agree that Chicago’s economy will increasingly depend on recruiting and supporting green businesses—those that make a minimal impact on the environment as well as those that help others do so, from wind turbine factories to banks that lend to sustainable startups. But there’s no way the city can responsibly and effectively offer tax breaks, grants, or other incentives to sustainable businesses without first determining which ones truly are. Flores said that’s why the city should gather business leaders, academics, developers, legal experts, and environmental advocates to draw up measures of what “green” means. Voicing support, administration officials said they believed Chicago would be the first city to set these kinds of standards.
“We risk losing our advantage to other countries and to other regions,” said Nicholson, “if we do not move and move aggressively on these issues.”
