Beantown = Greentown?

Last week Popular Science Magazine came out with a list of “America’s 50 Greenest Cities,” and Boston ranked #3, with Cambridge right behind at #6.

I have to say I’m surprised. There are a bunch of rankings out there about the Greenest Cities, from more devoted sources (like Grist, SustainLane, and The Green Guide), as well as less devoted sources (who knew Forbes magazine had one?). The criteria are always subjective. Popular Science lists “Green Living” as one of their criteria . . . what does that really mean?

New York City always seems to get short shrift, no matter what the list. Even though more than half of its population commutes on its public transportation system, the best in the US, it came out 20th behind green powerhouses Honolulu, Hawaii, and Huntsville, Alabama. Whuh?

It seems like Boston’s high ranking is mostly based on “preliminary plans” for a power plant to convert grass clippings and other yard waste into electricity and fertilizer. Hopefully that project won’t go the way of Cape Wind. Maybe we got extra credit for the Green Monster and the Celtics . . .

I guess what matters most is not making it to the top of the lists and chillaxing, or arguing over minutia, but using the spirit of competition to encourage all cities and their citizens to move "greenward."