Is DeKalb the “Greenest County in the Country”?

Decatur Metro | January 3, 2011

Countless unfinished DeKalb subdivisions are getting greener by the day, but does that make DeKalb the greenest county in the country?

After the recent sewage leak epidemic, the AJC’s Truth-O-Meter honed in on a claim on the DeKalb County website that it was the “Greenest County in the County” and dubbed it “Barely True”.

DeKalb backed up the claim citing their methane gas-to-electricity program at the public landfill, its recent acquisition of 3,000 acres of parkland, the most hiking and biking trails in the state, LEED standards for County buildings, and a $15 million federal grant to reduce fossil fuel emissions.

The chairman of the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club told the AJC the claim was “pretty unthinkable.”  The AJC goes on to detail the numerous ways these claims are shoddy at best and in some cases not even true.

Beyond the fact that the “green” descriptor is really little more than a marketing gimmick these days, what the heck is so “green” about a hiking trail?  Do people take them to work in lieu of driving? Or does just basking in nature qualify as “green”?

And what about urban form?  If the greenest city in the country is really New York City, than it stands to reason that even neighboring Fulton County would be a better contender for “greenest county” in the anything.

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7 Responses to “Is DeKalb the “Greenest County in the Country”?”

  1. nightwing rut says:
    January 3, 2011 at 1:57 pm

    Sewage ‘leeks’…? eewwww, not cooking anything with those…!

  2. Ridgelandistan says:
    January 3, 2011 at 7:00 pm

    It’s laughably sad that Dekalb officials think far flung recreational facilities with plenty of “free” parking should be in the positive green score.
    Thanks AJC, for exposing yet another Dekalb fail.

  3. Bryan Alexander says:
    January 4, 2011 at 1:41 pm

    Not necessarily to defend the county’s claim, but . . .

    Building trails can help conserve property against commercial development.

    Building trails in urban areas does provide alternative transportation, as they are frequently designed to connect people to sidewalks and other resources.

    Building trails is a relatively inexpensive and low-impact method of providing outdoor recreation, which is an important service of government especially in urban areas.

    Building trails provides people an opportunity to connect directly with the outdoors. Without that connection, people may not care to conserve undeveloped land.

  4. Golazo says:
    January 4, 2011 at 3:20 pm

    http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/three-more-sewage-spills-795006.html?cxtype=ynews_rss