SM to be honored for “green” efforts
SAN FRANCISCO — Santa Monica is expected to be honored here for its commitment to sus-tainability, with Mayor Pam O’Connor representing the city.
World Environment Day (WED), celebrated each year on June 5, has become one of the principle vehicles through which the United Nations attempts to stimulate worldwide awareness of environmental issues. Santa Monica is one of the cities that will be recognized for its environmental efforts during a five-day conference starting on Wednesday.
The goal is to draw awareness to the effort, during which representatives from more than 100 cities around the world will exchange information intended to improve their environmental programming. In addition to O’Connor, some city staff members are expected to participate.
The WED theme for 2005 is “Green cities,” and the slogan is “Plan for the planet.” WED organizers said this will be the first time in 33 years that a U.S. city has hosted the conference, which will include a variety of workshops.
“I am pleased to be invited, and it happens to be one of those lucky aspects of life I happen to be mayor the first time this conference is in North America,” O’Connor said. “I’m going to represent Santa Monica because of what the city has achieved through its environmental stewardship.”
O’Connor said stewardship comes largely from citizens and city staff, and requires countless hours of work and millions of dollars in funding for programming and facilities.
“In many cities it takes a leader to educate, but we are blessed to live in a city with ties to the ocean and in which clean air and clean water are important to us,” she said. “So we as a city have been innovative in taking steps earlier than other places to create policies around environmental sustainability.”
SustainLane, a privately held company committed to promoting sustainable efforts, said Santa Monica has finished first nationally for its number of “green” buildings, as well as for the city’s solid-waste diversion program, planning and environmental knowledge of residents.
Some of the awards lined up for Santa Monica were based on a SustainLane study that included 20 categories, and information compiled from more than 90 interviews with representatives of 25 American cities.
O’Connor said awards such as those to be presented by companies like SustainLane are common during these types of conferences, since they provide opportunities for the companies to share information with the public.
She said she looks forward to receiving the awards on behalf of the city, but a more important aspect of the conference will be the opportunity to exchange ideas.
“There’s more to do,” she said. “This is an opportunity for us to get some ideas about what is helping elsewhere and help build our tool box, so we hope to get a lot out of it by sharing and learning from other cities around the world.”
Some of the presentations will include “Pure Elements: Food, Water and Air” on Wednesday; “Cities on the Move: Transportation” on Friday; “Urban Power: Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change” on Saturday; and “Flower Power: Open Space and the Urban Forest” on Sunday.
Previous hosts for WED include Barcelona, Spain (2004); Tokyo, Japan (1999); Istanbul, Turkey (1996); and Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (1992).
O’ Connor said she has few expectations in anticipation of the event, except to try to take in as much as possible.
“I think the thing to do is go in with an open mind,” she said. “This is an opportunity for us to build a coalition and begin accomplishing efforts on a larger scale similar to our sustainable city plan. The idea here is to set goals for the city to pursue and a road map to stay the course.
“We have a good start down that road, and hopefully what we have done and other cities have done can help us keep doing this kind of thing.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 30, 2005. Read the original PDF.