NEWTON AND LONG BEACH MAYORS WIN 1ST PLACE FOR THEIR CLIMATE PROTECTION EFFORTS

Miami Beach, FL, June 23, 2017 -- The Mayors of Newton and Long Beach are the nation’s top winners in the 2017 Mayors’ Climate Protection Awards, an initiative sponsored by The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Walmart.  The winners were announced today during the Mayors’ Climate Protection Awards luncheon, which was held in conjunction with USCM’s 85^th Annual Meeting in Miami Beach, FL.

Celebrating its 11^th anniversary, this mayors’ awards program recognizes mayors for their energy and climate protection efforts, selected by an independent panel of judges from a pool of mayoral applicants.

“Mayors Setti Warren and Robert Garcia are national climate leaders, taking us into the next decade of mayoral climate leadership and demonstrating how action helps our cities and the nation,” said Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director of The U.S. Conference of Mayors. “Mayors continue to be the first responders in our global climate battle, and the innovative programs underway in Newton and Long Beach will help inspire actions by other cities here in the U.S. and throughout the world.”

"We congratulate the winning mayors for their innovative climate work and their leadership on this important mayors," said Maggie Sans, Vice President, Community Relations for Walmart. "Cities and businesses are together in climate protection, embracing strategies that reduce waste and inefficiency, while saving money and the planet. We congratulate these mayors and many others for their leadership and innovation." 

“By enacting zero-emissions port and bus programs, integrating green technology into city design, and investing in multi-modal transportation, we’ve built a robust economy while also reducing our emissions, proving that you don’t to choose between the economy and the environment,” said Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia. “Long Beach is honored to be recognized for its leadership and will continue to lay the groundwork to make it a sustainable city for the next generation.”

 “My city has made sustainability through solar energy a priority here, as well as reducing inequality. This project came out of our desire to marry these two priorities in a way that is efficient, innovative, and inclusive and share the benefits of solar technology with lower income households," said Newton Mayor Setti Warren. "We are honored to receive this reward from Walmart and The U.S. Conference of Mayors and appreciate their ongoing support of mayors’ work to address the climate challenges before all of us.”

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

LARGE CITY HONORABLE MENTIONS:  

William Edgardo Miranda-Torres, Mayor of Caguas, Frank G. Jackson, Mayor of Cleveland, Stephen K. Benjamin, Mayor of Columbia, and Harry Kim, Mayor of Hawai’i County.

SMALL CITY HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Trish Herrera Spencer, Mayor of Alameda, Philip Levine, Mayor of Miami Beach, Shelley Welsch, Mayor of University City, and Zach Vruwink, Mayor of Wisconsin Rapids.

Full descriptions of these 2017 Mayors’ Climate Protection Award winning programs can be found at: http://usmayors.org/climateprotection/2017Awardees.

For more information about USCM’s 84rd Annual Conference, please visit www.usmayors.org/                                           

About The United States Conference of Mayors -- The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are nearly 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/usmayors, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usmayors.

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cd154d4a-f5fd-4f82-b368-bb7bfa79d2dd

Elena Temple-Webb
The U.S. Conference of Mayors
202-286-1100
[email protected]

Sara Durr
Durr Communications
202-215-1811
[email protected]