The Next Great City?  I was reminded recently that Philadelphia, once upon a time, was THE Great City in America.  During our nation’s infancy, Philadelphia was both a financial and cultural center in addition to being the nation’s capital and most populous city.  Imagine that.  New York City, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles all wrapped up into one.  All eyes were on Philly.    

Fast forward two and half centuries and I am filled with city envy.  New York City - that bustling center of commerce - I drool over its New York City Transit fleet boasting 3,200 buses retrofitted with diesel particulate filters.  I swoon over its city requirement that construction projects use clean diesel equipment.  I turn to the center of political life in America, Washington DC, and marvel at the ubiquity of its more than 400 compressed natural gas public transit buses.  Longingly I read about Georgetown University’s Fuel Cell Bus Program.  And Los Angeles – so vast, so star struck, so much going on – I wistfully take note of its port’s Clean Air Action Plan that is dedicated to phasing out dirty trucks and even charging container fees to pay for the program.

Granted, these may not be everyone’s first reasons for envying these locales, but I can only speak from my perspective as an air quality advocate whose current work is focused on reducing diesel engine pollution.   And my perspective as an air quality advocate leads me to believe that Philadelphia can and should be right up there with those other great urban settings in its ability to clean up its air and protect its environment.  

The good news is that the City has already taken steps to improve air quality.  Through its regulating agency Air Management Services, the City co-founded the Philadelphia Diesel Difference Working Group in 2003 along with other groups like Clean Air Council to encourage the voluntary use of clean diesel technologies and strategies by truck and bus fleets operating in the region.  Retrofitting vehicles with pollution control devices, reducing unnecessary engine idling and using cleaner fuels are among the options Diesel Difference promotes. 

Why is it important to focus on diesel engines?  Well, it is one major source of pollution that individual behavior has limited ability to impact.  We can choose to drive more fuel efficient cars and we can choose to conserve electricity by using more efficient appliances and light bulbs.  But we cannot directly do anything about the trucks that deliver the goods we increasingly are buying online nor the buses that transport us to schools or work.

There are a lot of exciting diesel reduction initiatives taking place in Philadelphia.   The City has the luxury of not one, but two anti-idling laws that limit how long a truck or bus can sit at a location with its engine on.  SEPTA has committed itself to replacing nearly a third of its bus fleet with hybrid electric vehicles that burn less diesel fuel.  The City is in the process of retrofitting its municipal vehicles, fire trucks and school district buses with pollution control devices that minimize the amount of soot coming out of their tailpipes.  It will soon be fueling much of its fleet with cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel.  Finally, the City’s Port has completed a demonstration project retrofitting cargo-handling equipment with clean diesel technologies at two of its busiest facilities. 

Although we are not quite up to the level of what some other cities have accomplished yet, Philadelphia can certainly learn from their examples and then strive to equal or surpass their efforts.  This is where the 10 goals of the Next Great City fit in, especially the one concerning “Reducing Asthma Caused By Soot.”  With support from the Next Great City partners, Philadelphia will be encouraged to continue its efforts in reducing diesel emissions from its own vehicles.  The more difficult part will be reducing emissions from trucks and buses that operate within the City, but are not controlled by the City.  I suspect the Next Great City and Philadelphia Diesel Difference partners working together with the City will come up with creative and effective solutions. 

And when the day arrives when each of these 10 robust and ambitious goals have been achieved, Philadelphia will truly earn the moniker of the Next Great City.  Philadelphia will become the green metropolitan superstar that others envy.  Just remember, though, when this day arrives, Philadelphia will simply be reclaiming a status it already held.  Once upon a time, the Next Great City was the First Great City.