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 . . . "
Amid the environmentally friendly backslapping, though, a serious and complicated discussion was slowly getting started: Aldermen were talking about a resolution, introduced by the First Ward's Manny Flores, that called for a hearing to create city standards defining a "green business."