2005 Climate Champion Awards Presented at NY Conference
June 09, 2005 By Clean Air - Cool Planet
New York, NY Clean Air - Cool Planet yesterday announced the winners of the 2005 Climate Champion Awards, given every two years to individuals and organizations for actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the threat of global warming.
Recipients of this year's awards are Governors John Baldacci of Maine and George Pataki of New York, Bank of America and The Timberland Company, Middlebury College, and the City of Stamford, CT.
Award presentations were here made at Global Warming Solutions 2005, organized by Clean Air - Cool Planet (CA-CP), which is the Northeast's leading nonprofit dedicated to finding and implementing solution to global warming. CA-CP works with businesses, communities, and colleges in New England, New York, and New Jersey to help develop cost-effective solutions to fight climate change and promote environmental protection.
The awards were presented by former Massachusetts Environmental Affairs Secretary and US Energy Assistant Secretary Susan Tierney, a managing partner at the Analysis Group and chair of the Clean Air - Cool Planet Board of Directors.
"These awards are intended to recognize the real work done by people, companies, communities, and campuses to reduce the emissions that cause global warming," said Tierney. "But it goes beyond that.
"We particularly want to celebrate those who reach others with their commitment, who make action on global warming a central part of their mission, and who involve their whole community, whatever that might be, in that effort," Tierney said.
Clean Air - Cool Planet Executive Director Adam Markham noted that Governors Baldacci and Pataki "took steps that are leading to new policies and practices outside their states as well as in," and pointed to Middlebury College as an institution that sought to reach everyone it could "regardless of their relationship to the college - not just including students, faculty and staff, but alumni, the local community and beyond."
Both Bank of America and The Timberland Company, Markham said, have worked hard internally to reduce their carbon footprint, taking advantage of energy efficiency and other strategies to cut energy use and reduce CO2 emissions.
"But they have also been public in their efforts, taking opportunities to demonstrate to others their concerns about the welfare of the planet and their commitments to action," Markham said.
He noted that both companies have just undertaken major projects: Bank of America with the construction of One Bryant Park - Bank America Tower, "the greenest skyscraper in America," and Timberland with a new utility-scale solar-power site at its Ontario, CA site.
"That kind of investment in action is really putting your money where your mouth is," Markham said.
The City of Stamford received the award for "reducing emissions that contribute to global warming by 20 percent and taking action that saves the city more than $1.1 million in energy costs annually," Markham said. "But they also have future plans involving enhanced public transportation, which has the benefit of public education, and they are not working alone, but partnering with local groups to leverage local action."
Accepting his own award was Governor Baldacci. Timberland President and CEO Jeff Swartz received his company's award, and Stamford Mayor Dannell Malloy accepted the award for the city.
Governor Pataki's award was accepted by Charles Fox, his environmental advisor, while the award for Bank of America was received by Mark Nichols, Bank of America corporate workplace executive and environmental council representative.
The last Climate Champion Awards were presented, at CA-CP's 2003 conference, to Shaw's Supermarkets, the University of New Hampshire and Tufts University, and the City of Hull, Massachusetts.
For further information, contact:
Bill Burtis, Communications Manager
Clean Air - Cool Planet
bburtis@cleanair-coolplanet.org
1-603-502-8164, cell
1-603-422-6464, x 105
www.cleanair-coolplanet.org
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