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Coming December 9,
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The Green California Leadership Awards
By Racquel
Palmese
At ceremonies in Sacramento, state agencies were
recognized and celebrated for outstanding leadership and environmental
achievement. From forest sector protocols set in place by the California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to the landmark Department of
General Service's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Best Practices
Manual, the first Green California Leadership Awards recognized projects
across a spectrum of state government endeavors.
The luncheon and awards ceremony, which took place on October 2 at the
Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento, was co-hosted by Rosario Marin,
Secretary, State and Consumer Services Agency and Chairperson of the
Governor's Green Action Team; and Linda Adams, Secretary, California
Environmental Protection Agency and Chairperson of the Climate Action
Team.
Welcoming attendees on behalf of the Governor, Secretary Adams noted that
the awards were an outgrowth of the Green California Summit. "The advisors
to this event - which focuses on state and local government efforts to
create clean, sustainable communities – felt that it was important to
recognize the accomplishments of those working in state government," she
said.
The first event specifically focused on environmental achievements within
California government, the ceremony presented awards in the categories of
climate change, energy innovation, green building, waste management,
transportation, green culture and purchasing.
"Whether you will be receiving an award today or not, your work in support
of the state's environmental protection goals is making a difference in
the future of this state and in the lives of generations to come,"
Secretary Adams told the crowd.
California Public Utilities Commissioner Dian Grueneich, who directs the
Commission's statewide energy efficiency efforts, served as keynote for
the awards ceremony, capturing the essence of each category and its
relationship to the state's environmental protection goals.
Awards were selected on the basis of extensive questionnaires submitted to
the Green California Leadership Awards advisory panel. Nominations were
evaluated against criteria including innovation, problem solving, relation
to specific goals of state laws, executive orders or mandates, measurable
results and demonstrated benefits to human beings or the environment.
Nominations were limited to projects implemented during 2006 which were
publicly funded and executed.
Click here
to view a slideshow of the 2006 award recipients and details of the
projects that were honored.
Long-term Benefits
The California Department of Conservation won an award in the category of
"Green Culture" for its Beverage Container Starter Kit program.
Director Bridgett Luther said of the award: "The Green Culture award is a
gratifying reminder that our work can have an immediate and sustained
impact on the world around us. All of those bins are out there in offices,
gyms, schools and other locations, getting filled up day-by-day and
week-by-week with bottles and cans that otherwise would have ended up in
the trash. But this award is not just about recycling. Across all of our
divisions, DOC is creating a legacy of programs that have a long-term
benefit for the people of California."
When a large government agency undertakes even a fairly simple energy
savings program, the results can be enormous. The California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, which won in the category of Energy
Innovation, replaced interior high pressure sodium lamps with T-f
fluorescent lamps, resulting in a colossal demand reduction of 860
Kilowatts and an annual energy savings of 3.8 million Kilowatt-hours.
Harry Franey, chief of the CDCR's energy management section, said of the
award: "Thank you for recognizing CDCR's energy management program, it
provides a nice boost to want to do more and do better. It also encourages
us to take stock of the program and even reflect a little bit. Just as
every journey begins with a first step, energy efficiency and cleaner air
begin with replacing a single light bulb."
Recognition for excellence is often hard to come by in government work.
Government is expected to fulfill its mandates and take leadership without
much fanfare. But its programs and innovations are often hugely beneficial
and pave the way for the private sector. The California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) won the award in the category of
Climate Change for setting up the world's first comprehensive set of
forestry sector protocols for quantifying greenhouse gas emissions and
reductions in emissions that result from good forest management and
conservation. Two forest-based greenhouse gas reduction projects in 2006,
undertaken in cooperation with an array of public and private partners,
anticipate reductions of more than two million tons of carbon dioxide
(CO2).
Responding to the award, Cal Fire's deputy director for resource
management, Bill Snider, said: "Well managed forests contribute greatly to
the reduction of greenhouse gases. The forest sector protocols to address
climate change is a mechanism to recognize how good forest management
contributes to greenhouse gas solutions. The project started at ground
zero, no one had done it before. It was quite an accomplishment. Many
worked very hard on it."
The Green California Leadership Awards were sponsored by agencies and
organizations that work in partnership with government to achieve
sustainability. Included were Southern California Gas Company, Pacific Gas
and Electric, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, the California
Department of Conservation and Southern California Edison.
Department of Motor Vehicles Director George Valverde, whose leadership in
sustainability is well known among the department's 200 field offices,
summed up the spirit and intent of the occasion, saying: "Receiving a
Green California Leadership Award acknowledges the great work of my
executive team in promoting green solutions. We lead by example."
Note: The 2008 Green California Leadership
Awards, honoring projects completed in 2007, will be presented at the
Green California
Summit and Exposition. Watch for news of the call for
nominations from Green Technology.
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