Air Quality

Mayor Says Toronto Will be North America’s Greenest City

Toronto Mayor David Miller vowed last week to make Toronto "the leading environmental city in North America." The Toronto Star reports:

By Jason Varone

11:45 AM EDT on March 27, 2007

Toronto Mayor David Miller vowed last week to make Toronto “the leading environmental city in North America.” The Toronto Star reports:

Mayor David Miller is pledging to slash the city’s greenhouse gas emissions
by 30 per cent by 2020 and a whopping 80 per cent by 2050.
Miller
and city council will unveil a plan today that sets ambitious targets
for reducing emissions that lead to climate change, increasing
so-called green energy usage and encouraging retrofitting of city homes
and businesses to make them more energy efficient.
Miller said the city could levy higher taxes against SUV owners than owners of hybrid vehicles. He has also talked about taxes on parking lots in areas that are well served by public transit, including the downtown core. “You need to make simple changes that encourage people to change their behaviour,” he said. “We will be creative, and we will offer creative suggestions to Torontonians. Some will be radical.”

Photo: William Self/Flickr

Jason Varone

Jason Varone battles the streets everyday during a 9 mile commute on his bicycle from downtown Brooklyn to the Upper East Side. In addition to his efforts on Streetsblog, he is an artist making work related to the environment and technology. Examples of his work can be found at www.varonearts.org.