Reader's Digest Ranks San Francisco Among America's Cleanest Cities
(June 21, 2005)
San Francisco – According to Reader's Digest, San Francisco was named as the nation's fifth cleanest city, among a list of 50 large metropolitan areas to be featured in the July edition of Reader's Digest.
"San Francisco is truly a city on the cutting edge of innovation when it comes to environmental sustainability," said Mayor Gavin Newsom. "San Franciscans take pride in promoting clean and renewable energy sources," Newsom continued, "they recognize that environmentally conscious actions are instrumental in maintaining the physical beauty and economic wellbeing of the City."
In its rankings, the Reader's Digest poll took into consideration the air quality, drinking-water pollution level, amount of toxic emissions, hazardous waste and sanitation of each city. San Francisco scored a perfect 50 for its drinking water, and also ranked high for its air quality.
The other cities that ranked in the top five include: Portland, San Jose, Buffalo and Columbus. Chicago and New York rounded out the bottom of the top-50 list, earning the lowest scores in all categories evaluated.
Though San Francisco fared well in the poll, the mayor recognized the need to push for more environmentally sound practices. "Our city will continue to find ways to protect our air quality and public health by increasing the use of solar, hydro, wind and other clean energy sources," said Mayor Newsom.
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Contact:
Mayor's Office of Communication
415-554-6131
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Department of the Environment
City and County of San Francisco
11 Grove Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone: (415) 355-3700 | Fax: (415) 554-6393
Email: environment@sfgov.org | www.sfenvironment.com