ICLEI USA Honors 20 Cities and Counties for Achieving Milestones in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

CONTACT:
Guillermo Meneses/ICLEI USA
guillermo.meneses@iclei.org

Washington, D.C. (September 27, 2010) – ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability  USA honored 20 cities and counties that have achieved significant milestones in reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during a Milestone Awards ceremony at its Local Action Summit, held this weekend in Washington, D.C. (See list of winners below.) Through ICLEI USA’s proven Five Milestone process, hundreds of local governments and communities large and small take concrete steps to measure their GHG emissions, set realistic emissions reduction goals, develop hands-on climate action plans, and implement those plans in a measurable way that will yield results.

“The Milestone Awards recognize the great work of cities, towns and counties that are actively engaged in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and want a better quality of life for their residents” said Mayor Patrick Hays, City of North Little Rock, AR, and President of the Board of Directors, ICLEI USA.  “Each step of our Five Milestone process is critically important to ensuring local success and achieving measurable reductions.”

Since 1993, ICLEI USA has held 130 Five Milestone recognition events for local governments.  Since then, more than 300 local governments have received recognition for their various Milestone accomplishments. Over the past year, the pace of Milestone attainment has accelerated, with 52 local governments completing one or more. 

“It’s incredibly rewarding to see so many cities, towns and counties actively engaged in our Five Milestone process and being recognized for their accomplishments,” said Martin Chávez, Executive Director, ICLEI USA and three-term Mayor of Albuquerque, NM. “Through the success of the Five Milestone process, local governments are on track to reduce GHG emissions by 1.36 billion metric tons by 2020—the equivalent of taking 25 million passenger vehicles offs the road for 10 years—an incredible achievement being led by our local governments.”

The following ICLEI USA local government members were recognized with a Milestone Award:

MilestoneOne: Conduct a baseline greenhouse gas emissions inventory and forecast. Iowa City, IA

• Fairbanks, AK
• North Miami, FL
• Richmond, VA

Milestone Two: Adopt emissions reduction goals

• Alexandria, VA
• Charlottesville, VA

Milestone Three: Develop a local climate action plan for how to reach the goals.

• Chevy Chase, MD
• Eugene, OR
• Loudoun County, VA
• Las Vegas, NV
• New Haven, CT
• Park City, UT
• Queen Anne’s County, MD
• Tacoma, WA

Milestone Four: Implement policies and measures from the climate action plan.

• Bellingham, WA
• Township of Hamilton, NJ
• Stamford, CT

Milestone Five: Monitor and verify results in reducing GHG emissions.

• Austin, TX
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Seattle, WA

For more information on ICLEI USA’s Five Milestone process, visit  http://www.icleiusa.org/action-center/getting-started/iclei2019s-five-milestones-for-climate-protection

For more information on these awards and ICLEI USA’s Local Action Summit, visit http://www.icleiusa.org/main-page/news-events/iclei-local-action-summit-2010

About ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA

 With more than 600 members nationwide, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA is the leading local government association addressing climate change and sustainability.  As a nonprofit membership organization, ICLEI USA provides the expertise, technical support, training and innovative tools to help local governments advance their climate, energy and sustainability goals.