News Release from: City of Beaverton
EPA RECOGNIZES BEAVERTON WITH A GREEN POWER LEADERSHIP AWARD
Posted: September 24th, 2012 12:07 PM
- City receives EPA's Green Power Community of the Year award -
Today, Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle accepted the 2012 Leadership Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the 2012 Renewable Energy Markets Conference in Washington, D.C. The annual award recognizes the country's leading green power purchasers for their commitment and contribution to helping advance the development of the nation's voluntary green power market.
Beaverton was one of only two communities nationwide to receive a Leadership Award for purchasing energy in amounts that meet or exceed EPA purchase requirements for residents' and businesses' collective green power purchase.
The Beaverton community is currently purchasing more than 93 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, which is enough green power to meet five percent of the community's electricity use.
"We are proud to receive this prestigious award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency," said Mayor Denny Doyle. "Purchasing green power sends a message to others across the nation that supporting clean sources is an important choice in our efforts to curb climate change."
According to the EPA, Beaverton's current green power purchase of more than 93 million kWh is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of nearly 13,000 passenger vehicles per year, or is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 8,000 average American homes annually.
"EPA is pleased to recognize the city of Beaverton with a Green Power Community of the Year award for its leadership, citizen engagement, renewable energy strategy, and impact on the green power market," said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "We applaud the community's residents, businesses, and organizations that are choosing to use green power to make a significant difference for the environment."
Green power is electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro. These resources generate electricity with a net zero increase in carbon dioxide emissions, while offering a superior environmental profile compared to traditional power generation sources. Green power purchases also support the development of new renewable energy generation sources nationwide.
Earlier this year, the city was awarded the 2012 Mayor's Climate Protection Award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors for the city's commitment to sustainability.
ABOUT EPA'S GREEN POWER PARTNERSHIP
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with purchased electricity use. The partnership currently has more than 1,300 partner organizations collectively purchasing billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500(R) companies, small and medium sized businesses, local, state, and federal governments, and colleges and universities. For additional information, please visit www.epa.gov/greenpower.
ABOUT BEAVERTON
Beaverton enjoys one of the most diverse populations among Oregon cities. Most recently, the city was awarded the 2012 Mayors' Climate Protection Award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. It was one of just four cities of its size recently recognized as a "Smarter City" energy leader by the Natural Resources Defense Council and one of the 100 Best Places to Live in America by Money magazine. In addition, Beaverton has been named one of the safest cities in the Pacific Northwest for three consecutive years, as one of the best places to raise kids by BusinessWeek magazine, an All-America City finalist, as one of the top 25 Suburbs for Retirement by Forbes.com, one of the 100 Best Walking Cities in America by Prevention magazine, the Recycler of the Year from the Association of Oregon Recyclers, a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, a Bronze Award Bicycle Friendly Community designation by the League of American Bicyclists and as one of the Environmental Protection Agency'
s Green Power Communities, the Beaverton Community Vision program was named Public Involvement Project of the Year--Best Planning Project by the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Cascade Chapter. For more information, please visit www.BeavertonOregon.gov or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cityofbeaverton.
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