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EPA Honors Chula Vista, Calif. for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Release Date: 02/25/2014
Contact Information: Nahal Mogharabi, [email protected], 213-244-1815

LOS ANGELES – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Center for Corporate Climate Leadership announced the third annual Climate Leadership Award winners in partnership with the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) and The Climate Registry (TCR). Nineteen awards were given to 15 organizations and two individuals in the public and private sectors for their leadership in addressing climate change by reducing carbon pollution. The City of Chula Vista has received an Organizational Leadership Award for its reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions at its campus.

"Today’s winners are champions in their communities because of the steps they’ve taken to reduce carbon pollution harmful to the environment,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. "We are proud to recognize the City of Chula Vista for its leadership in fighting climate change.”

The national awards program recognizes exemplary corporate, organizational, and individual leadership in response to climate change. Award recipients represent a wide array of industries, including finance, manufacturing, retail, technology, higher education and local government.

The City of Chula Vista, located in San Diego County located approximately seven miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Chula Vista received the Climate Leadership Award for Organizational Leadership for:
· The city’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020. The city government has already reduced its own emissions by over 19,000 metric tons per year, and by 2020 they hope to reduce the entire community’s emissions by over 145,000 metric tons per year.
· Adopting 11 climate adaptation strategies in 2011 that address the community's vulnerabilities related to energy and water supplies, public health, wildfires, biodiversity, coastal resources, and the local economy. These strategies updated the city’s land development codes to incorporate sea level rise, revised its emergency plans to address more extreme weather, incorporated climate adaptation messaging into its community outreach programs, and developed new policies to promote water reuse and “cool” paving materials.
· Establishing green building standards that set building energy efficiency requirements 15-20 percent higher than state code.
· Working with private sector partners to expand electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and use in the community by installing almost 30 EV chargers at municipal buildings and recreation centers.
· Administering a successful climate change program that included engaging in multiple climate change forums, adopting and amending a Climate Action Plan since 2000 that has served as a framework for prioritizing actions and tracking progress, engaging broad community stakeholder groups to participate in the Climate Action Plan, providing biannual updates to community members and City Council on Climate Action Plan progress, and serving as a founding member and energy program lead for the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative.

The President’s Climate Action Plan calls on the federal government to work with all stakeholders to take action to cut the harmful carbon pollution that fuels climate change. These organizations and individuals are working to do just that.

The awards are held in conjunction with the 2014 Climate Leadership Conference at the Hyatt Mission Bay Hotel in San Diego, Calif.

More information about the 2014 Climate Leadership Award winners is available at www.epa.gov/climateleadership/awards/2014winners.html

The EPA's Center for Corporate Climate Leadership was launched in 2012 to establish norms of climate leadership by encouraging organizations with emerging climate objectives to identify and achieve cost-effective GHG emission reductions, while helping more advanced organizations drive innovations in reducing their greenhouse gas impacts in their supply chains and beyond. The Center serves as a comprehensive resource to help organizations of all sizes measure and manage GHG emissions, providing technical tools, ground-tested guidance, educational resources, and opportunities for information sharing and peer exchange among organizations interested in reducing the environmental impacts associated with climate change.

More information about EPA’s Center for Corporate Climate Leadership: www.epa.gov/climateleadership