U.S. EPA Honors Corporations for Cutting Greenhouse Gases

Caesars
Caesar's Palace slot machines, Las Vegas, Nevada (Photo courtesy Caesar's Palace)

 

SAN DIEGO, California, February 25, 2014 (ENS) – Corporations as different as aerospace giant Boeing, Caesars Entertainment with its hotels and casinos, the networking equipment company Cisco Systems, Fruit of the Loom underwear, the Hartford Financial Services Group, telecommunications company Sprint and Mack Trucks were honored today for their leadership in protecting the climate.

Caesars
Caesar’s Palace slot machines, Las Vegas, Nevada (Photo courtesy Caesar’s Palace)

At the 2014 Climate Leadership Conference in San Diego, the U.S. EPA Center for Corporate Climate Leadership announced the winners of the third annual Climate Leadership Awards.

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 2014 Climate Leadership Award winners are:

Organizational Leadership Award: City of Chula Vista, Sprint, and University of California, Irvine

Individual Leadership Award: Sam Brooks, associate director, D.C. Department of General Services, and Robert Taylor, energy manager, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission

Suppy Chain Leadership Award: Sprint

Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management, a Goal Achievement Award: The Boeing Company; Caesars Entertainment; Cisco Systems, Inc.; Ecolab; The Hartford; IBM; Johnson Controls; Kohl’s Department Stores; Mack Trucks; and Novelis, the world’s largest recycler of aluminum

Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management, a Goal Setting Certificate: Fruit of the Loom, Inc.; Hasbro, Inc.; and Kohl’s Department Stores

For complete details on what the winners have accomplished, visit: http://www.epa.gov/climateleadership/awards/2014winners.html

“Our Climate Leadership Award winners have made great strides in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and are providing leadership nationwide in many sectors of our economy,” said Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.

truck
Mack Trucks exceeded its goal a year early by reducing GHG intensity by 43.2 percent, equivalent to an absolute reduction of 17.4 percent. (Photo courtesy Mack Trucks)

“Their innovative approaches and commitment to reducing carbon pollution demonstrate that efforts to address climate change are repaid by saving money and energy, while supporting more livable and resilient communities, and a healthier, better protected environment now and for future generations,” said McCabe.

The national awards program recognizes and incentivizes 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 EPA offered these awards in partnership with the Association of Climate Change Officers, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and The Climate Registry.

“The Association of Climate Change Officers is pleased to recognize another exceptional class of organizations and individuals who are demonstrating leadership in driving climate action into their organizational cultures,” said Daniel Kreeger, ACCO’s co-founder and executive director.

“These award recipients are demonstrating critical devotion and leadership to managing and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the risks and challenges posed by climate change. These recipients are role models for corporate, organizational, and individual leaders who can and should be responding proactively to climate change risks and opportunities,” said Kreeger.

“Communities and businesses are already experiencing the impacts of climate change, and we need to act now to protect both our environment and our economy,” said C2ES President Eileen Claussen.

“We join EPA in applauding the winners of the Climate Leadership Awards. These companies, organizations, and individuals demonstrate that we can save energy, reduce emissions, and take decisive steps toward a low-carbon future,” Claussen said. “We hope their accomplishments will serve as an example for others to follow.”

“The Climate Registry applauds this year’s Climate Leadership Award winners for demonstrating a meaningful, results-oriented response to climate change,” said David Rosenheim, executive director of TCR.

“Exhibiting transparency, consistent metrics, and innovative mitigation measures, our deserving award recipients are building a stronger platform for policy, innovation, and business solutions to reducing carbon pollution,” he said.

underwear
Fruit of the Loom, Inc. set a GHG reduction goal of 40 percent between 2012 and 2015 for global operations. (Photo by Nathan Bush)

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 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 greenhouse gas 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 resource to help organizations of all sizes measure and manage greenhouse gas emissions, providing technical tools, ground-tested guidance, educational resources, and opportunities for information sharing and peer exchange.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2014. All rights reserved.

 

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