The Next Philadelphia Mayor Needs to be a Green Leader

Philly neighborhood groups and environmental nonprofits collaborated on an action plan to make the city greener, safer, and more environmentally equitable. 

Philadelphia, P.A., March 9, 2023 — Recognizing the urgent need for city government to  expand city investment in underserved neighborhoods and address environmental and quality-of-life concerns, 13 Philadelphia neighborhood groups and environmental organizations created a coalition to map out investment solutions, programs, and environmentally-focused policies for the city’s next leader. 

 

The Green Living Plan (GLP), representing the coalition, came out of stealth this month with environmental and neighborhood-based priorities identified to accelerate the reduction in air pollution and urban heat, invest in parks, green spaces, and water quality, and grow high-quality green jobs. 

 

With eleven confirmed candidates campaigning to be Philadelphia’s next mayor, the GLP will host all candidates at a Mayoral Candidate Forum on Wednesday, March 29, from 6-8 pm at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Drexel University to discuss the Green Living Plan.

 

“This is an action plan created by environmental and policy experts and local organizers who know their neighborhoods best - what people want and what is doable and sustainable for neighborhoods,” said Adam Nagel, Philadelphia Campaign Manager at PennFuture, an environmental advocacy organization co-leading the GPL. “The next administration won’t need to pay for outside consultants because the people who know the issues and the community already did the work.”

 

The Green Living Plan organizations include: 

• Cedar Park Neighbors
• Mantua Civic Association
• Nueva Esperanza, Inc. 
• Overbrook Environmental Education Center
• PennFuture (co-coordinator)
• Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (co-coordinator)
• POWER Climate Justice & Jobs
• Public Health Management Corporation
• SEAMAAC
• Trust for Public Land
• Young Chances Foundation

 

The Academy of Natural Sciences and The Environmental Collaboratory at Drexel University offer strategic and technical assistance. 

 

To date, more than 30 organizations signed their support of The Green Living Plan. 

 

“The Green Living Plan is for us because it is from us,” said Russell Hicks of POWER Climate Justice & Jobs. “We’ve heard from residents across the city about the hardships they face, and this agenda seeks to solve those problems.” 

 

The Green Living Plan received grant funding from the William Penn Foundation. 

 

The Mayoral Candidate Form is free and open to the public. To learn more and register for the event, please visit GLPforum.eventbrite.com.

 

###

 

About The Green Living Plan: 

The Green Living Plan is a coalition of local environmental and neighborhood-based organizations, with the support of academia, that has produced a city-wide, community-driven agenda for the city’s candidates for Mayor in 2023.  

The agenda outlines environmentally focused and neighborhood-based policy, programmatic, and investment solutions to Philadelphia’s most pressing quality of life challenges.

The coalition makes a strong connection between green, environmental justice and climate transition solutions, racial equity, and the quality of life challenges that everyone recognizes as top city priorities – including gun violence and crime, trash collection and illegal dumping, job creation and workforce development, and basic service delivery.

greenlivingphl.com