Evanston Wins National Award for Climate Protection

At its national annual meeting which opened today, the United States Conference of Mayors recognized Evanston's Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl along with Houston's Mayor Annise Parker as the winners, from over 130 applicants, of the 2011 Mayors’ Climate Protection Awards, which recognizes innovative municipal practices that increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Houston, which won in the Large City category, has signed up over 300 partners in its Green Office initiative. Evanston was recognized for its Evanston Climate Action Plan ("ECAP") in the Small City (under 100,000) category. The ECAP, adopted by the City Council in November, 2008 under Mayor Morton, was the unique product of input from more than 130 community members -- the first if not only climate action plan to be developed by volunteers rather than outside consultants -- and identified 200+ strategies to reduce greenhouse gases in Evanston.