2012: The Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award Program

• 2012 Award Ceremony Program (PDF)
• Governor Brown Announces 2012 Top Environmental Leadership Awards (PDF)

Who May Apply/Eligibility The awards will be presented for voluntary achievements culminated in 2011. Competition is open to all California residents, businesses, non-profit organizations, professional and trade associations, communities, state and local government entities, tribes, and federal agencies operating in California. Projects are deemed ineligible if they are the result of mitigation, litigation, or required by legislation. Those who applied previously are welcome to apply again. Award Categories

• Children’s Environmental Education Unique and exemplary educational programs that 1) are supported with written, academic standards-aligned curricula and 2) raise children’s awareness of, and involvement in, environmental issues. Applicants must submit standards-aligned curriculum materials and/or delineate web-based, standards-aligned curriculum materials.
• Climate Change Innovative and forward thinking projects/programs that 1) reduce/mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and/or adapt to the adverse effects of climate change on public health and our vast natural resources; and 2) provide economic and business-related benefits. Preference will be given to recipients of the CoolCalifornia.org Small Business Award.
• Comprehensive Land Use Planning A comprehensive plan that demonstrates social equity and adequate housing; cost-effective infrastructure and transportation; water and energy efficiencies, and open space conservation to protect forests, agriculture, watersheds and other ecosystem values.
• Ecosystem And Watershed Stewardship Innovative and sustainable approaches to land, water and resource management that restore or protect natural conditions, functions and processes, and provide economic, social and environmental benefits including productivity and sustainability of forests, farms or other natural resource lands, or conservation of open spaces.
• Enhanced Environmental and Economic Leadership Prior GEELA award recipients who have sustained exceptional leadership and can demonstrate significant and robust improvements in voluntary efforts previously recognized, which conserve California’s precious resources, protect and enhance our environment and/or strengthen the economy.
• Environmental and Economic Partnerships Efforts that foster unique, cooperative and collaborative approaches between the private, public, and/or non-profit sectors to achieve demonstrable results in both environmental and economic improvement.
• Environmental Justice Exemplary grass-roots efforts that foster unique, innovative, and forward-thinking cooperative and collaborative approaches between the non-profit and public (and/or private) sectors to achieve both environmental and economic improvement in geographic areas adversely affected by environmental pollution and hazards. Demonstrates significant and robust improvements in local grassroots voluntary efforts to address disproportionate environmental impacts and produces environmental, economic, and social benefits that lead to a cleaner, healthier California environment.
• Green Chemistry (Safer Consumer Products) Innovative development and marketing of safer, healthier, more environmentally benign consumer products and/or consumer product lines, with demonstrated benefits to human health and the environment stemming from reduced hazard of chemical components and processes, and adoption of a product lifecycle perspective that incorporates enhanced opportunities to reuse, recycle, treat, and/or properly dispose of chemical components.
• Sustainable Communities Examples of completed or underway projects that display effective project design or development of local communities and landscapes that make efficient use of land; include multimodal transportation options and connectivity; improve economic vitality, and the availability of affordability of housing; protect public health and safety; optimize energy efficiency; and conserve local watersheds, habitats and other sensitive lands.
• Sustainable Practices or Facilities Pioneering efforts to integrate environmental values and conservation of natural resources into comprehensive, long-term decision making and management of businesses and facilities.
• Technological and Market Innovation Innovation in product or process design, manufacturing or product marketing to cost-effectively improve environmental and public health, including products or processes that provide deep energy efficiency, new renewable and clean distributed energy generation, innovative energy storage, and/or low-/zero-emission vehicles.
  • Zero-Emission Vehicle Examples of leadership by the cities and regions of California to prepare for the successful rollout of PEVs through streamlined permitting and inspection processes, training and education programs, updating building codes as well as zoning and parking policies, conducting outreach, strategically planning for infrastructure placement and placing PEVs in local government fleets.
• Waste Reduction Exemplary achievements in conserving and protecting natural resources and reducing costs by incorporating efforts such as waste prevention, reuse, recycling, composting, environmentally-preferable purchasing, and product design and stewardship.
  • Children’s Environmental Education Unique and exemplary educational programs that 1) are supported with written, academic standards-aligned curricula and 2) raise children’s awareness of, and involvement in, environmental issues. Applicants must submit standards-aligned curriculum materials and/or delineate web-based, standards-aligned curriculum materials.

View award winners and sponsors in other years.

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