Kentucky environmental attorney Sanders says Seattle is greenest city in nation, while Louisville was named 15th best in Smarter Cities’ poll.

The city of Seattle is the No. 1 large city for environmental stewardship and sustainability, according to a new “Smarter Cities” survey released by the Smarter Cities Project of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).  The only city named in the survey was Louisville, Kentucky, which ranked 21^st in the country.   Columbus, Ohio was named 15^th greenest city in the country.

The 2009 ranking took into account nine different criteria: air quality, green space, recycling, transportation, water quality and conservation, green building, energy production and conservation, environmental standards and participation, and standard of living. Smarter Cities also cited the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement led by Nickels, which prompted cities across the country to cut greenhouse gas emissions to meet the goals of the Kyoto Protocol.

The Smarter Cities research compares sustainability efforts in cities across the nation, encouraging urban areas to be smarter places for businesses and healthier places to live. In the survey’s category of cities with a population greater than 250,000, Seattle was followed by San Francisco, Portland and Oakland.