2009 Environmental Award

We nominate Tom Osborne for this year’s Environmental Award because we consider him the driving force in getting our city included in the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement.
            Making it his mission to have our city added to the list of those committed to reducing global-warming pollution, Tom educated himself by attending conferences on municipal environmental policy led by university scientists and gathering information from leaders in other cities that had already signed the agreement. He arranged to have several of them speak to local civic organizations about their experience, built a network of community support for the idea, and discussed the issues with City Council members. Then, as a member of the Environmental Committee, he chaired the committee’s 20-member Climate Protection Work Group and was a coauthor and one of the editors of the Climate Protection Action Plan produced by the group.
            Global warming is our most significant environmental challenge, and Tom’s tireless and effective efforts have moved our city in the direction of doing something about it. We hope that you will formally recognize those efforts by choosing him for this year’s award.