Panel: "Can Chicago be the Greenest City in the Nation?" April 21, 2007

Mayor Richard Daley has often said he wants Chicago to be the greenest city in America. What exactly does it mean to be a "green city" and why is urban sustainability so vital in addressing everything from global climate change to energy and food security? How have Chicago's sustainability efforts succeeded and where is it most challenged compared to other cities? Moderating the panel discussion will be SustainLane's Warren Karlenzig, author of the newly released How Green is Your City?: The SustainLane US City Rankings (New Society Press). Warren will be joined by Sadhu Johnston, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of the Environment, and Jim Slama, President of Chicago-based Sustain USA, and an additional panelist. Get your questions ready for this lively interactive event.

Chicago's Journey to Be come the Greenest City in the Nation

Panelists: Sadhu Johnston, Jim Slama, Warren Karlenzig
Where: Chicago Green Festival; Room E350

Background:
Chicago ranked #4 out of the top 50 U.S. cities in SustainLane Government's 2006 City Sustainability Rankings. Join a discussion of how far Chicago has come and how it will become a darker shade of green.

Sadhu Johnston is Chicago's Commissioner of the Environment.

Jim Slama is the president of Sustain, a public interest group that uses leading edge communications strategies to win environmental victories. Jim and Sustain recently launched FamilyFarmed.org to build markets for Midwestern organic farmers. He was on the transition team of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and now sits on Illinois’ “Governor’s Agricultural Advisory Council for Farmers and Farm Families.”

Warren Karlenzig, Chief Strategy Officer of SustainLane, directs the SustainLane US City Rankings, a peer-reviewed sustainability benchmarking of the largest 50 cities in the United States. The Washington Post said of the rankings: “Surveys such as SustainLane's ‘go a long way in terms of helping the nation understand what constitutes a better and more sustainable urban environment.’ ” Karlenzig has been editor in chief of Knowledge Management magazine and a leading sustainability consultant for the federal government (US EPA, White House Office of Science and Technology) and the state of California. He is author of How Green is Your City?: The SustainLane US City Rankings (New Society Press) and A Blueprint for Greening Affordable Housing (Global Green USA) and has appeared on CNN, CNBC, The Weather Channel's "Climate Code" and in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. His blog is www.greenacity.com.

Official Website: http://www.greenfestivals.org/content/view/17/37/