OKC, Tulsa fare poorly in green rankings

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma City and Tulsa are near the bottom of a list of environmentally friendly cities in the U.S.

The rankings by San Francisco-based SustainLane ranks Tulsa 48th and Oklahoma City 49th on the list of 50 cities it considers friendly to the environment.

Mesa, Arizona, ranks 50th on the list and Portland, Oregon, is first.

The rankings are based on items such as the number of people who use public transportation, street congestion, as well as planning and land use.

The low rankings for Tulsa and Oklahoma City are no surprise to Fenton Rood with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.

Rood says both cities were developed to be automobile-oriented with everything geared to the suburbs.

But he says that mindset is starting to change.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)