FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2012

Toronto: A new report shows that Toronto City Council has been “going in circles” on the environment since the last municipal election.

“Environmental progress in Toronto has been stuck going in circles since the new Council was sworn in,” said Jamie Kirkpatrick, Campaigner with the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA), the group that released the report. “For example, on public transit, Council spent almost two years debating transit expansion options only to conclude the plan we started with was the best one.”

“That being said, going in circles -especially on transit expansion- was not a bad thing if Council kept Toronto from going in the wrong direction,” added Kirkpatrick.

The report titled Going in Circles: Mapping Environmental Progress at City Hall evaluates City Council on how well it did advancing six environmental priorities. The report finds City Council is heading in the right direction on one priority (pollution prevention), going the wrong way on another priority (transportation infrastructure), and going in circles on four priorities (transit, waste diversion, local green economy and sustainable energy). The report can be found here.

The report also sets out what Council should do to improve transit, increase waste diversion, clean the air and water, and create green jobs and safer streets.

“We are grateful that Councillors worked hard to protect key environmental programs from proposed budget cuts,” said Emily Alfred, a Campaigner with TEA. “But now it’s time for Council to do more than stop cuts to environmental programs. Now it’s time for Council to help build a greener city for all Torontonians.”

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For More Information: 
Jamie Kirkpatrick, Campaigner, Toronto Environmental Alliance 416-596-0660, or jamie 'at' torontoenvironment.org
Emily Alfred, Campaigner, Toronto Environmental Alliance 416-596-0660, or emily 'at' torontoenvironment.org

To see all TEA media releases, go to Media Releases