Manhattan Beach Earns Recognition For Sustainability Practices

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — The city recently earned regional recognition for its efforts over the last year in pursuing energy efficiency and sustainability.

Manhattan Beach earned a silver level of achievement as part of the inaugural South Bay Energy and Climate Recognition Program. Organized by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments and the Southern California Regional Energy Network, the recognition program used points to tally up how each city did compared to its neighbors.

Point-earning activities included:

• Participating in a SoCalREN energy program
• Purchasing clean power
• Updating their city’s GHG inventories
• Implementing on-site, renewable energy
• Installing energy-efficient lighting and HVAC replacement in municipal facilities
• Complying with AB 802, which requires energy benchmarking and publicly disclosing building energy use
• Showing quantified energy savings in municipal facilities
• Replacing grass at municipal facilities with more drought-tolerant native, plants
• Hosting beach clean-ups, Earth Day events, gardening events and more
• Promoting sustainable practices online

Carson, Hawthorne and Rolling Hills Estates earned the highest level of achievement, gold.

El Segundo, Gardena, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Torrance earned silver achievements.

And Lawndale, Palos Verdes Estates and Redondo Beach earned bronze-level achievements.

“Through the SBCCOG’s South Bay Environmental Services Center program, it has been our 20-year mission to implement programs to help our cities save energy and water and reduce waste in our communities,” said Cedric Hicks, chair of the SBCCOG. “As we continue our work this year to help cities update their greenhouse gas emission inventories and ultimately their climate action plans, we decided to create some friendly competition to engage our cities in the process. We’re elated to see they met the challenge.”