Greenest Cities In U.S. And Canada, Ranked By Nine Environmental Factors (PHOTOS)

A recent study sought to find the greenest city in the U.S. and Canada. The study was commissioned by Siemens and conducted by an independent research organization, Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

According to AFP, the study examined 27 major cities in the U.S. and Canada, and ranked them across nine environmental categories -- CO2 emissions, energy, land use, buildings, transport, water, waste, air quality and environmental governance.

Did your city make the list?

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#10. Minneapolis

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Comments

[DanielCox427]

01:25 PM on 07/20/2011

Any list of "Green" cities that includes Los Angeles is so completely absurd I can't take it seriously. LA is the worst designed city in the whole country for green city planning.

[audrey fischer]

02:05 AM on 07/13/2011

National Park Service study predicts by 2025

[audrey fischer]

01:58 AM on 07/13/2011

Cities are not GREEN unless their night sky is midnight BLUE and star-studded.
Cities scatter their light pollution unnecessarily a hundred miles away, steal the stars and visible Milky Way right away from kids across county and state lines, including even the natural areas of state and national parks. Light pollution wastes natural resources, billions of tax dollars, harmful to human health and wildlife, inhibits nitrate radicals (natures way of purifying air quality) from doing its job and so reducing air quality, and so much more. Wake up! Speak UP for Lights DOWN. National Park Service study predicts by 2025

[Tsalco]

01:58 AM on 07/13/2011

This is like making a list of the friendliest serial rapists.

I live in one of these cities on the list and it is anything but green. It has bad air pollution, big traffic jams, limited and cost prohibitive light rail, tennis courts that have lights that cannot be turned off so that they stay on late at night even in blizzards, streams of water from city sprinklers running down the street, etc.

Bizarrely, the city recently advertised our former mayor's (now our Gov) "Greenprint" plan on a digital billboard which stunningly wastes many thousands of watts of energy in bright sunlight. Talk about blatant hypocrisy. From the NY TImes: "In a year, a digital billboard can consume up to 30 times the energy that an average American home uses".

There is no "green" city on the entire planet. Most of them should be labelled as black - VERY black.

[katyland]

03:03 PM on 07/12/2011

an amazing aray of blue states , with pollution issues

[dbuskirk1282]

12:44 PM on 07/12/2011

How many of these cities are also on the most POLLUTED list? Unbelievable...

[iceage7]

07:56 AM on 07/12/2011

All blue states go figure!

[curmudgeon68]

07:17 PM on 07/11/2011

Clearly a case of "whatever you have to tell yourself".

Like slapping a picture of a leaf on an SUV.

Next weeks list...... Drug free rockers.... Janice Joplin, Jimmy Hendirx, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobane

(Well, they haven't done drugs since they OD'd? How much more drug free do you want them to be?)

[El Justiciero]

10:49 AM on 07/11/2011

This is the dumbest, most nonsensical, made-up list I've ever seen. What is with you, HP? and why no listed author for this article? Was it put together by some sort of "news bot"?

[atexasdem]

02:16 AM on 07/11/2011

People wonder how so called "journalists" lose credibility? This "journalist" is the perfect example.
I would suggest before he write an article ranking and praising certain cities that he actually visit them. Take L.A. for instance. When the best response is "It's not as bad as it used to be" , It's still bad. The other cities on the list? Some are better than others but a far more accurate list could be compiled by even a short visit to numerous far more environmentally friendly cities.
I notice that the author of the article didn't put his name on it. I can certainly understand why. You can't be a true "journalist" without leaving the confines of your desk.

[vlvocoupe]

01:30 AM on 07/11/2011

Bahstun, ahhhhhhhh what a wonderful, beautiful city! I was born & raised in Atlanta, GA. I LOVE Atlanta, my family is here & I miss them ever so much when I am away, HOWEVER, going to Boston, living on the 'outskirts' always having something new & exciting to see & learn is so great! My only wish is that everyone in this country could be here for 1 (one) year, learn about our country's history which Boston is FULL of, see the sights, take the Duck Tours on the Charles, experience the 4th of July Fireworks @ the Esplande, Keith Lockhardt & the Boston Pops Orchestra! Then up into Northern New Hampshire & especially the QUIANT LITTLE STATE OF VERMONT!! What a GREAT Place to live, until the 'others' come in & take it over & ruin life the way it was 30 years ago! What a shame.
I'll always have my memories. Thank you GOD for those great memories with him!!

[racc]

12:59 AM on 07/11/2011

The "Vancouver" photo is nice but I don't think that is anywhere near Vancouver.

[Brittany Lince]

12:13 AM on 07/11/2011

I'm just so flabbergasted that Portland isn't on this list, but LA... and NYC?! We have hydro-power, wind power, we're the test city for federal funded electric recharging stations, and our public transportation is hard to beat! We have a ridiculous amount of LEED buildings, and even the new section-8 housing for recovering addicts' new building's roof across the street from me is covered with solar panels. We're crazy about organic food and materials, recycling, farmers markets, etc. You can't say this city is not in the top 10 greenest cities in the US/Canada.

I just don't understand how a city such as LA where you can see the rise and fall of the smog every day is considered green. I just visited there and you can feel the pollution in the air, it's so heavy!

[atexasdem]

02:32 AM on 07/11/2011

You make a very valid point. Though not a resident of Portland your city is renown nationwide for the numerous environment steps it has taken. Not to belittle any city that did make the list but it's very obvious that the author did no research. Numerous other cities have also done a great job on becoming more environmentally friendly. Here in Austin we're very proud of what we have done but I will absolutely give credit to those cities that have done even more.
This is sloppy, lazy writing at it's very worst. Editors are supposed to catch this kind of lazy, unresearched articles before approving them. If the Huffington Post is going to maintain it's credibility it must improve the quality of it's articles and writing staff.

[tempist771]

07:38 PM on 07/10/2011

Has the author of this article ever been to LA? The smog haze blanketing that city is a thing of legends

[GeoTor]

05:47 PM on 07/10/2011

I can't wait to move into my new place in September, which is in Toronto's 1st LEED-certified building. Yay !! I'm going to be growing pumpkins, hot peppers, various other veggies alongside some pot plants on my massive terrace. I'm even going to have room for a blow up wading pool !!