make his city hands-down the greenest in the nation.

The proposal, called the Chicago Climate Action Plan, outlines aggressive measures aimed at reducing the city's greenhouse gas emissions 25% below 1990 levels. The 29 actions recommended in a report authored by a "green ribbon panel" (oh, I get it) focus on the areas of buildings, transportation, energy, and waste pollution.

Chicago already claims to be America's most environmentally-friendly city, and they have a pretty good case. Past efforts have included planting half a million trees, distributing a full million fluorescent light bulbs, and chalking up over 4 million square feet of green roof projects. Not to mention that C-town has more LEED-certified buildings than any other U.S. city.

Looking forward, the report (PDF) includes an ambitious retrofit of 400,000 buildings and 9,000 commercial buildings for a net savings of 2.3 terawatts and $500 million a year. Greentech improvements include a Global Building Monitoring System (GBMS), which will allow central temperature control of Chicago's 500 city-owned facilities, and a 1 megawatt solar array at a water filtration plant.

Daley noted that although it is most definitely a bear market, money for these projects has already been set aside. Chicago has definitely just sent an Al Capone-style message to L.A., NYC, Seattle, and other aspiring sustaina-cities. From now on, greening your local metropolis is going to take more than passing a few green building codes.

Update: An addition from Thursday Bram:
The changes will start with an effort to reform Chicago's energy code: the City Council is scheduled to review an ordinance to do just that next month. Updates to the code include requirements for better insulation, heating and cooling systems and windows in all commercial, industrial and residential buildings. Chicago's administrators also have an agreement in place with two of the coal-fired power plants that provide the city with electricity: they will either cut emissions or shut down entirely by 2015 and 2017 respectively.

Over all, the plan includes what seems like every technique for improving energy efficiency, using renewable energy and otherwise eliminating sources of carbon emissions: the city will increase recycling, support car-pooling, promote alternative fuels and expand the number of green rooftops. Chicago administrators are considering providing incentives to individuals and businesses who participate in such programs. They have not ruled out mandates or fees, either.

Officials have reported that the city of Chicago emits 34.6 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually. City administrators have said that Chicago will not be able to avoid climate change entirely, but as part of the effort to prevent climate change, plans have been made to help Chicago deal with its affects. Those efforts will include such steps as creating a heat warning system and preparing for increases in rainfall and flooding.