Huntsville is "greenest" city in the South

From the Huntsville Times:

Two years after labeling Huntsville a top 50 hot spot for technology, Popular Science is giving the city props for going green.

The respected magazine has ranked Huntsville No. 18 on its list of "America's 50 Greenest Cities," ahead of New York City, Denver and St. Louis, among others. Huntsville had the highest score of any Southern city surveyed, beating Lexington, Ky. (No. 25), Athens, Ga. (No. 33), Newport News, Va. (No. 41), Louisville, Ky. (No. 42), and Greensboro, N.C. (No. 50).

Read the full Popular Science article here.

Cities were ranked in four categories:

1) Electricity: Cities score points for drawing their energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass and hydroelectric power, as well as for offering incentives for residents to invest in their own power sources, like roof-mounted solar panels.

2) Transportation: High scores go to cities whose commuters take public transportation or carpool. Air quality also plays a role.

3) Green living: Cities earn points for the number of buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, as well as for devoting area to green space, such as public parks and nature preserves.

4) Recycling and Green Perspective: This measures how comprehensive a city’s recycling program is (if the city collects old electronics, for example) and how important its citizens consider environmental issues.

Huntsville's scores were:

Electricity: 6.2/10
Transportation: 4.1/10
Green Living: 3.6/5
Recycling/Perspective: 4.5/5