This is cool. Good for OKC and this person.
I know our Mayor has a staff person responsible for sustainability and the environment but I haven't heard much beyond that. PlaniTulsa speaks to sustainability for sure and I've heard that Tom Adelson has 'Green' on his agenda. Dewey = nada on the environment/sustainability as far as I've heard.
http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-sustainability-chief-finding-green-allies/article/3413934?custom_click=lead_story_title#ixzz0VjuEuWY4Oklahoma City sustainability chief finding ‘green’ allies
BY BRYAN DEAN Comments 4
Published: November 2, 2009
When Autumn Radle first came to work in Oklahoma City, the idea that she would be leading the city’s environmental efforts seemed far-fetched.
The New York native, who came to work for the city in 2007 as an urban redevelopment specialist, has undergraduate and master’s degrees in environmental science and planning.
Only two years after arriving in the city, Radle is the city’s first sustainability manager, responsible for coming up with a plan to spend $5.4 million in grant money from the U.S. Energy Department on efforts including reducing fossil fuel emissions, reducing energy use, improving energy efficiency in the transportation and building sectors and creating and retaining jobs.
"I’ve been with the city not even two and a half years now, and when I got here I didn’t think we would have an office of sustainability,” Radle said. "The amount of progress we’ve made just since I’ve been here is amazing.”
Although the aim of the grant is rather broad, Radle is trying to focus her efforts. She is working with a consultant to develop a strategy which must be presented to the federal government in December.
Some of Radle’s ideas include energy audits for city buildings, a compressed natural gas fill station to serve the city’s fleet of 60 CNG vehicles and examining ordinances across the country on topics like building codes and historic preservation guidelines to see what might work in Oklahoma City.
It helps that the city has included plenty of environmental elements in the MAPS 3 proposal that will go before voters Dec. 8. In addition to money for mass transit and cycling and pedestrian trails and sidewalks, the concept for the proposed downtown park includes windmills and solar panels.
"I’m finding I have a lot more allies than maybe I thought when I started,” Radle said. "It’s great to have city departments already on board the sustainability wagon. I think the MAPS proposals are really showing how green the city is willing to be.”
Read more:
http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-sustainability-chief-finding-green-allies/article/3413934?custom_click=lead_story_title#ixzz0Vk7blZY5