Wears the Green

Philly's wannabes should hitch a ride in the Gov's Big Hybrid.

by Bruce Schimmel

I 've got a weird image of Eddie Rendell that I can't shake out of my head. And I'll bet he'd be happy about it.

Every time I see the governor at a public event — buttoned into a handsome pinstriped suit — I can't help but imagine him modeling another suit that he's been piecing together. A garment of leaves.

Yup. Philly's own Fast Eddie is becoming the Jolly Green Giant. America's former Favorite Mayor is transforming himself into America's Greenest Governor.

He's ditched the cheesesteak, picked up a can of peas, and some say he's striding off to Washington.

In a Democratic administration, it's said that Eddie's green credentials could earn him a seat in the Cabinet — as secretary of transportation or energy, or as head of the EPA.

Eddie's green stock has risen so high that even the vice presidency may be within his reach.

So here's what I don't get. Rendell is blazing a green path to D.C. So why aren't Philadelphia's mayoral candidates trying harder to hitch a ride to City Hall in the Gov's Big Hybrid?

In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley made his career and is remaking a city by marketing "A Green Mayor for a Green City."

Here, candidates not only have the chance of getting a nod from the Big Green Guy, but also the promise of bringing home some bacon. Here's just a sample:

• Philadelphia needs new businesses, and Rendell has set aside some $500 million to jumpstart clean-energy businesses.

• Philadelphia needs jobs, and Rendell is investing huge state dollars in alternative-energy projects to create some 13,000 new jobs.

• For homeowners and small businesses, some $244 million is slated for energy upgrades, along with generous funds for new solar energy systems.

That's a lot of green to regrow Philadelphia.

Beyond that, and most importantly, sustainable development could be the big, big idea to unite a divided city. Because the last time I checked, the Earth is becoming less hospitable, and we all live on the same planet.

Well, almost everyone does. Because if you check Bob Brady's Web site — and I'm not making this up — the only mention of green comes in a description of what Brady wore for a St. Paddy's Parade. But then again, remember that this is the man who talks about "ulterior energy" and "waterful" power. (The Brady people promise something at an unspecified date.)

Tom Knox is not much better. He'd create a Cabinet position to make Philadelphia the most livable city in America. (And to his credit, I have heard him offer the job to Michael Nutter.) But as it stands, Knox's plan for a sustainable Philadelphia takes up one paragraph. That's it.

Fattah's green credentials, like most of his programs, are a swirling hodgepodge. More trees, more street cleaning, more green roofs, greener zoning. A kitchen sink of ideas with a bare mention of commonwealth efforts, and little to pull them together.

Evans and Nutter do better. Nutter was the first to release a sustainability plan, which I still think is the best. A terse outline, with a battery of bullet points, Nutter's plan concentrates on the city's own practices with convincing detail.

Evans' 20-page plan looks first to the neighborhoods. It's a cross-agency approach that knits together ongoing initiatives, from food security to environmental justice. Nutter tackles the city; Evans organizes the neighborhoods. Together, they add up to something. But neither candidate appears aware of Eddie's big plans.

So why the oversight? The chief reason, I suspect, is that it's hard to see a green future through a haze of blue smoke. It's tragic that guns and violence are eclipsing a moment for visionary leadership.

Voters have yet to witness any leadership that honestly confronts the future. One that addresses neighborhood problems by connecting them to global inevitabilities.

I believe that peace in the streets will come when neighbors rebuild their own communities. Literally. The way to save today is to give people some tangible faith in tomorrow.

In Ed Rendell, Philadelphia has a chance to hitch its future to an energy star. But for now, there's no one in the trenches with enough guts or sense to look up. No one envisioning a sustainable future, much less leading us toward one.

(bruce@schimmel.com)