Millbrae Receives 2020 Beacon Spotlight Award For Sustainability Achievements

Press release from the City of Millbrae:

October 9, 2020

On Thursday, October 8, 2020, the Institute for Local Government (ILG) announced that the City of Millbrae has been selected as one of their 2020 Beacon Spotlight Award Winners for making significant progress to address climate change and environmental protection.

The City of Millbrae received ILG’s Beacon Spotlight Gold Level Award for 19% community greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions compared to its base year of 2005.

Over the past five years, the City has continued to invest in energy saving technologies at City facilities, integrate hybrid vehicles into its fleet, secure 100% of its energy from renewable resources through Peninsula Clean Energy, and promote residential energy saving programs.

At a national level, the largest contributor to GHG emissions is the electricity sector (31%), followed by transportation (26%) and industry (21%). Because of the combined effort of local municipalities, residents and businesses, electricity makes up 14% of GHG emissions in San Mateo County.

The Beacon Award program honors local agencies for innovative solutions that address climate change. The awards were presented on October 8th during the League’s Annual California Cities Conference where 36 cities were provided with Beacon Awards. The City’s achievements were recognized as a part of its participation in the sustainability recognition program, the Beacon Program.

The City had received four other Beacon Awards in past years, including the Silver Spotlight Award for 5% community GHG reductions (comparing 2005-2010), Platinum Spotlight Award for 42% agency energy savings (comparing 2005-2010), the Platinum Spotlight Award for sustainability best practices, and Gold Spotlight Award for reducing municipal operation GHG gases by 15% between the years 2010 and 2015.

To learn more about the City of Millbrae’s environmental sustainability effort, please visit https://www.ci.millbrae.ca.us/departments-services/public-works/sustainable-millbrae-programs.

This press release was produced by the City of Millbrae. The views expressed here are the author’s own.