Hughes accepts lure to 'greener' pastures

Mark Alan Hughes is Philadelphia's new sustainability director, the first for any major U.S. city. So what exactly does the person in charge of sustainability do?

Hughes is in charge of directing the city's environmental efforts in areas such as curbing pollution, improving the city's recycling program and reducing its energy costs.

Mayor Nutter said after naming Hughes that "sustainability is not a fringe issue. It is central to everything we do."

One way Hughes is trying to deal with these issues is by using existing measures used in other cities, such as New York City. The goal of putting these plans in place, he said, will be "meeting the present needs without interfering with future needs."

Hughes had just started his new job when students from the Urban Journalism Workshop visited City Hall. Part of a delegation that included the mayor, he wore casual clothes and shoes without socks. Nutter, well-dressed in a suit and tie, made some good-natured jokes about Hughes' appearance.

Hughes said that he needs to look at the long-term and short-term parts of his plans. One example he gave was "green" roofs. These are eco-friendly roofs that lessen energy use and are better for the environment. If you were to look at the basic principles of green roofs, he said, "you would see the price of green roofs to be more expensive then regular roofs." That's the short-term concern. But those higher initial costs are balanced by a decrease of in energy use over time, which can result in money savings over a long period of time.

He said that he finds the short-term part of his role to be less stressful and more geared toward promoting knowledge about what he's doing. Being a past educator - he has been a distinguished senior fellow at Penn since 1999 - Hughes knows all about helping people understand a subject that can be new and confusing. He said another primary goal is to "make people understand about sustainability in the economy." The more people are informed, the less explaining he has to do, he said.

One thing Hughes does see for the full length of his term is the criticism that will come in the wake of his decisions. He realizes that you can't please everyone, he said, but it won't change his goal: to do everything in his power to make Philadelphia a more eco-friendly city.