Washington, DC (Nov. 17) – America’s conservation organization dedicated to protecting wildlife has honored Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels with its National Conservation Achievement Award for protecting wildlife and natural resources for our children’s future.

Mayor Nickels received his award in the government category from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) at an annual awards dinner last night in Washington, DC.

Nickels was honored for his grassroots effort to get hundreds of local mayors to commit to global warming solutions.

“When President Bush walked away from the 141-country approved Kyoto Protocol, Greg Nickels decided to take matters into his own hands, rallying a 300-mayor strong charge to reduce green-house gas emissions,” said Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “Though his U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement is non-binding, it sends a strong statement to Congress and the White House that America, too, wants action on global warming.”

To ensure that the cities follow through with their pledges, The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives has been put in place. It has no punitive function, but serves to assist Agreement supporters with compliance, tout their success stories, and act as the country’s clearinghouse for ideas that have worked, and those that haven’t. One success story comes from Seattle, which provides electricity to its docked cruise ships, offsetting the approximate 30,000 automobiles-worth of emissions that the ships’ huge diesel engines would otherwise expel.

Nickels is Seattle’s 51st mayor. He began his public service career at age 19 with the City of Seattle. He served for eight years as legislative assistant to then-City Councilmember Norm Rice. In 1987 Greg won a seat on the King County Council where he served for 14 years. His many public service accomplishments include working to make government more efficient by forming Metro, protecting children from tobacco advertising, and preserving more green space.

The award is one of 12 categories established to showcase outstanding contributions of individuals and organizations to conservation and environmental protection. The awards have been presented annually since 1965. Nominations are received from conservationists and the general public nationwide, with winners selected by NWF’s board of directors.

The National Wildlife Federation is America’s conservation organization inspiring people to protect wildlife for our children’s future.

Immediate Release: November 17, 2006

Contact:
Christine Dorsey – 802-229-0650, ext. 334, dorsey@nwf.org