Los Angeles And Fayetteville Mayors Win Top Climate Awards

HONOLULU, June 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Fayetteville, AR Mayor Lioneld Jordan won top honors in this year's Mayors' Climate Protection Awards.  The two mayors, joined by 10 other mayoral awardees, were honored today during the annual Mayors' Climate Protection Awards luncheon, which was held as part of the USCM's 87^th Annual Meeting in Honolulu, HI.

Celebrating its 13^th anniversary, the mayors' awards program, an initiative sponsored by The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Walmart, recognizes the nation's mayors for their successful and innovative energy and climate protection efforts.

"Mayors Garcetti and Jordan are leading the way on climate action, demonstrating the efficacy of local leadership to address our climate challenges," said Steve Benjamin, Mayor of Columbia, SC and President of The U.S. Conference of Mayors. "The efforts of these mayors and others are more important than ever, especially now as we await more deliberate and forceful climate action by our state and federal colleagues."

"The clean transportation revolution is not a distant vision for the far-off future — it's a reality hitting the streets of Los Angeles and cities around the world," said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. "Through the success of the EV Purchasing Collaborative, Climate Mayors have shown that cities wield the power to create demand, transform the global car market, and lead the transition to zero emissions vehicles."

"Climate change is affecting cities around the world, the City of Fayetteville is committed to honoring goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, starting right here in our own community," said Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan. "We want to lead by example for our residents, students, businesses, and utility partners -- showing the nation that supporting low-carbon initiatives not only promotes renewable energy and efficiency – it also creates opportunities for good jobs and investments in the Northwest Arkansas region. Fayetteville's Wastewater Solar Power and Storage Project demonstrates our commitment."

"We commend Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan for their bold and innovative solutions to the climate challenges before our cities and before all of us," said Amy Hill, Senior Director for Walmart.

"U.S. mayors continue to show global climate leadership and demonstrate that there are effective and affordable responses to our climate challenges," said Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director of The U.S. Conference of Mayors. "More can be accomplished, and more must be accomplished, through mayoral leadership.  We call on federal and state governmental officials to embrace local leaders and support their locally-based climate solutions." 

In addition to the first place winners in the large city category (more than 100,000 people) and small city category (fewer than 100,000 people), Honorable Mention Awards were presented to mayors of five large cities and five small cities for their exceptional achievements in efforts to promote climate protection.

LARGE CITY HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Martin J. Walsh, Mayor of Boston, MA;  Michael Rawlings, Mayor of Dallas, TX;  Jacob Frey, Mayor of Minneapolis, MN;  Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York, NY;  and Jacqueline Biskupski, Mayor of Salt Lake City, UT.

SMALL CITY HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Esther Manheimer, Mayor of Asheville, NC;  Rodney Craig, Mayor of Hanover Park, IL;  Pam Triolo, Mayor of Lake Worth Beach, FL;  Richard Tran, Mayor of Milpitas, CA;  and William Reichelt, Mayor of West Springfield, MA.

Full descriptions of the 2019 Mayors' Climate Protection Award winning programs can be found at: https://www.usmayors.org/climateprotection/2019awards/.

For more information about USCM's 87^th 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.

SOURCE U.S. Conference of Mayors