EPA Honors Climate Change, Ozone Layer Protection Award Winners
EPA honored 39 individuals, organizations, and companies from around the world yesterday for their outstanding efforts to protect the Earth's climate and stratospheric ozone layer. The agency said the award recipients have demonstrated ingenuity and leadership by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, negotiating international agreements to protect the ozone layer and climate, and spreading awareness about the importance of these issues.
"Efforts to help restore the ozone layer and fight climate change will benefit the planet for generations to come," said Bob Meyers, principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air & Radiation. "We commend the 2008 Climate and Ozone Layer Protection Award winners for their work to protect our environment."
The 2008 Climate Protection Award winners have contributed greatly to scientific understanding of climate change and its impacts on human health and the environment, EPA said, noting the winners have generated on-site wind and solar power, increased energy efficiency, introduced new technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from mining, and slashed the use of potent greenhouse gases. The 2008 Stratospheric Ozone Layer Protection Award winners, meanwhile, have strengthened the international Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, EPA said. The Protocol now calls for a faster phase-out of ozone depleting substances called HCFCs, which are also potent greenhouse gases. The winners are also responsible for the eliminating ozone-depleting substances in medical, agricultural, aviation, and shipping applications where alternatives are difficult to implement, the agency said.
The 10th annual Climate and Ozone Layer Protection Awards were presented yesterday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Since the annual Ozone Layer Protection Awards began in 1990, EPA has honored 533 recipients from 46 different countries. EPA began the Climate Protection Awards in 1998 and has so far recognized 154 recipients from 18 countries for outstanding efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The 2008 Climate Protection Award Winners are:
Advanced Micro Devices, Sunnydale, Calif.
Austin Energy, Austin, Texas
City of Albuquerque, N.M.
Climate Protection Team of Mr. Durwood Zaelke & Mr. Scott Stone, Washington, D.C.
Ms. Gay Browne, Montecito, Calif.
Mr. John Morrill, Arlington, Va.
Mr. Kenneth Davis, Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.
Ms. Laura Miller, Dallas
Ms. Laurie David, Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Life Cycle Analysis Team of Dr. Stella Papasavva & William R. Hill, Warren, Mich.
Mr. Marco Gonzalez, Kenya and Costa Rica
MEGTEC Systems, De Pere, Wis.
Ms. Romina Picolotti, Buenos Aries, Argentina
Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri, New Delhi, India
Xerox Corporation, Norwalk, Conn.
The 2008 Ozone Layer Protection Award Winners are:
Dr. Husamuddin Ahmadzai, Sweden
Asada Corporation, Japan
Dr. Paul Atkins, Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Kingdom of Bahrain National Ozone Unit, Bahrain
Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme, Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, Australia
Chinese Negotiating Team for the 19th Meeting of the Parties, China
Civil Aviation Halon Transition Team, Worldwide
Climate Co-Benefits of the Montreal Protocol Science Team, Netherlands & United States
Dr. Corrado Clini, Italy
Mr. James Curlin, France
Dr. Arumugam Duraisamy, India
Dr. David Fahey, Boulder, Colo.
Fiji National Ozone Unit, Fiji
Mr. Maas Goote, Netherlands
HCFC Phaseout Acceleration Team, Washington, D.C.
Mr. Mazen Hussein, Lebanon
Ms. Ana Maria Kleymeyer, Argentina
Dr. Michael Kurylo, Washington, D.C.
Kuwait National Ozone Committee, Kuwait
Dr. Kazufumi Nishi, Japan
Nordiko Quarantine Systems, Australia
Mr. Sateeaved Seebaluck, Mauritius
Dr. W.L. Sumathipala, Sri Lanka
World Customs Organization, Asia Pacific Capacity Building, Thailand
For more information and to learn what winners did to earn the EPA's Climate and Ozone Layer Protection Awards, visit www.epa.gov/cppd/climateawards and www.epa.gov/ozone/awards.