At least we have good water

Dallas city government is making a big deal about how it's going "green." The campaign even has its own Web site, which touts "Green is new building standard in Dallas" and offers the top five tips on "How you can go green." I mean, this is a real PR effort.

And how are we doing in our green efforts? Well, according to this report, not so hot. We're No. 24 among major cities in the country, exactly the same place we were last year (the reports describes Dallas as "treading water.") The category in which Dallas ranked the highest (you can check our rankings in all the categories on the accompanying chart) was City Innovation where we ranked 12th, largely I'm guessing because of above mentioned Green Building Standards, and Tap Water Quality where Dallas placed 14th. But even here, San Antonio, Fort Worth and Arlington finished ahead of us.

Where we ranked worst (48th out 50) was in the category of Local Food & Agriculture, which means growing our own so we're not dependent on food shipped in vehicles burning fossil fuels. We're also not doing so well in solid waste diversion (getting waste to recycling, green waste and composting programs), where we finished at No. 42, but I blame that on those City Council idiots who are thwarting superb efforts by the city to expand its recycling program. San Francisco leads the way with an astounding 69 percent diversion rate. Even New York City, for heavens sake, has a 64 percent diversion rate, according to the study.

The city's green Web site claims the green construction ordinance passed by the city council back in April "adds to the city's record of being an environmental leader." And it quotes Mayor Tom as saying "We're at the lead of major cities in this country."

Unfortunately, the report doesn't see it the same way. It ranks Dallas 21st in the Green Building category, behind, among others, Austin (9th) and Houston (11th). I guess the study wants to see some of these green buildings actually built and not just talked about. Picky. Picky. Picky.