Mayors Win First Place Honors For Local Climate Protection Efforts

Salt Lake City, Utah, Mayor Ralph Becker and Asheville, N.C., Mayor Terry Bellamy have been selected as the nation's top winners in the 2013 Mayors' Climate Protection Awards, an initiative sponsored by The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and Walmart. The winners were announced during the Mayors' Climate Protections Awards luncheon, which was held in conjunction with USCM's 81st Annual Meeting.

The annual awards program, now in its seventh year, recognizes mayors for innovative practices in their cities that increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An independent panel of judges selected the winners from a pool of applicants.

First Place Winners:

Salt Lake City, UT Mayor Ralph Becker for the Net Zero Public Safety Building and Salt Lake Community Solar (Large City Category – population over 100,000)

 The Salt Lake City Public Safety Building will be the first public safety building in the nation to achieve a Net Zero rating. To reach this lofty goal and ensure the building produces as much energy as it uses, the city employed a host of innovative technologies including rooftop solar and an off-site solar farm, planned LEED Platinum certification, locally-sourced and environmentally-sound materials and high efficiency mechanical systems. Its Salt Lake Community Solar (SLCS), a unique, market-driven approach to reducing the cost of solar energy using innovation and ingenuity to tackle the logistical and financial barriers of going solar, helps businesses and homeowners purchase and install solar energy systems.

Asheville, NC Mayor Terry Bellamy for the Green Capital Improvement Program (Small City Category – population under 100,000)

The city of Asheville established a goal to cut carbon emissions in its municipal activities by 80% by 2030. In the five years following the adoption of this target, the city has achieved a 17.67% reduction in emissions, and it has also established a self-sustaining funding source that recycles energy savings to invest in additional sustainability programs. More recently, these energy savings and dollars are directed into the Green Capital Improvement Program (Green CIP), which funds the city ongoing initiatives to make further progress on its 80% reduction goal. During the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Asheville creatively reinvested energy savings to invest in improved greener services for its citizens.

In addition to the first place winners, Honorable Mentions were awarded to mayors in four large cities and six small cities for their exceptional achievements in efforts to promote climate protection.

Brief descriptions of ALL winning programs can be found at: usmayors.org/climateprotection/2013awardees.

Source: U.S. Conference of Mayors