Greening a City Part 2

San Jose – the largest city in northern California – adopted its Green Initiative Plan in 2007. This ten point, 15-year program embraces three key elements – clean technology, sustainability & green mobility.

The Plan’s Goals are:

1. Create 25,000 clean tech jobs, becoming the “World Center of Clean Tech Innovation”
2. Reduce individual energy use by 50 percent
3. Have 100% of electrical power coming from clean renewable sources
4. Build or retrofit 50 million square feet of green buildings
5. Create 100 % waste diversion from the landfill, converting waste to energy
6. Achieve 100% wastewater reuse or recycling (100 million gallons per day)
7. Approve a General Plan containing measurable standards for sustainable development
8. Ensure all public vehicles run 100% on alternative fuels
9. Plant 100,000 trees and replace all streetlights with zero-emission lighting
10. Create 100 miles of interconnected trails

For more on the impact of these ambitious goals, see Part 3.