Long Beach is kicking some serious municipal booty when it comes to a specific statewide energy contest—but it’s still one spot shy of leading the field.
The city is currently in second place in the CoolCalifornia Challenge, the city announced today, with the aim of pushing its number of participants to reach the top spot out of the 22 cities taking part in the competition.
This 2015-2016 season marks the second year the city has participated in the CoolCalifornia challenge, an online competition to reduce carbon footprints throughout the state. Residents who sign up log their monthly energy use online, including electricity, natural gas and vehicle use through March 30, 2016, earning points for the city, according to a city release.
“Our community takes climate change seriously, and we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint as part of the city’s sustainability efforts, as well as helping the state meet its energy goals,” said Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia in a statement.
Currently, Long Beach is in second place with 257,659 points—just behind Claremont, with its 591,126 points. The city is still ahead of its closest competitor, however, Burlingame, with its 205,545 points. The neighboring cities of South Pasadena and Huntington Beach currently sit in eighth and ninth place, respectively.
This is Long Beach’s second year participating, after competing in the 2014 season. The city won $10,000, which the city’s Office of Sustainability donated to local schools and nonprofits, in partnership with the Long Beach Community Foundation.
Participants can enter the contest as teams on the challenge’s website, here. According to the city, teams entering the competition need a minimum of 100,000 combined points to qualify. First place for the teams wins the city $3,000 in donation money, second place wins $2,000, and third place wins $1,000. Recipients of the awards must be schools or 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organizations, and will be vetted by the Long Beach Community Foundation in advance.
Prizes will be awarded based on team rankings as listed on www.CAChallenge.org and announced on Earth Day: April 22, 2015.
The other cities that are participating in the 2015-2016 CoolCalifornia Challenge include: San Mateo, Buellton, Indio, Elk Grove, San Carlos, Lynwood, Martinez, South Pasadena, Redwood City, Huntington Beach, San Pablo, Benicia, Corte Madera, Mill Valley, Sausalito, El Cerrito, Fairfax, Larkspur and Richmond.
Visit www.CAChallenge.org and sign up to begin earning points for Long Beach. For more information please contact the Office of Sustainability at 562.570.5839 or email [email protected].