Global Warming Fighters Honored

Hartford Courant
Global Warming Fighters Honored
Awards Coincide With Rell, Schwarzenegger EPA Threat
By JOEL LANGCourant Staff Writer
May 22 2007
Connecticut's version of the Oscar awards for best performance in fighting global warming were handed out Monday to six individuals, including the food services director of Bloomfield schools and the owner of an organic juice bar in Hartford.The emcee of the ceremony at Department of Environmental Protection headquarters, Commissioner Gina McCarthy, said it was a sign of Connecticut's leadership on climate change.The awards were presented on the same day that Gov. M. Jodi Rell and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had an op-ed article in the Washington Post, threatening legal action if the federal government continues to block state efforts to set emissions standards for passenger vehicles.Among those cited for their efforts, Tim Cipriano, the Bloomfield food services director, was recognized for using locally grown produce that does not need to be transported long distances.Imini Zito, the owner of the Alchemy Juice Bar Café, runs a business that achieves a low "carbon footprint" partly by using biodegradable take-out containers and making deliveries in a vehicle that runs on bio-diesel fuel.Other individual winners of the Climate Change Leadership awards were:Andy Bauer, a middle school teacher in Glastonbury, who made his hometown of Portland the first municipality to purchase electricity through a state clean energy program.Charles Button, an assistant professor at Central Connecticut State University who created a new course in energy management and helped develop a schoolwide sustainability plan.Lynn Plant of Fairfield, a marketing strategist who created a climate change page on her town's website.And Bryan Garcia, who helped develop Connecticut's Climate Change Action Plan that calls for steep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and is now program director of the Yale University Center for Business and Environment.Yale University also received an award for instituting measures that, as of last year, cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 41,000 metric tons.In their op-ed article Rell and Schwarzenegger faulted the federal Environmental Protection Agency for delaying action on California's request for a waiver to set tailpipe standards for vehicles that Connecticut and 10 other states have also adopted.The EPA is scheduled to hold hearings on the waiver today. If it does not grant the waiver, Rell and Schwarzenegger wrote, "we have an obligation to take legal action and settle this issue once and for all."Contact Joel Lang at jlang@courant.com.