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newsrel -- British Council, Air Resources Board Announce 2009 California Climate Champions

Posted: 27 Apr 2009 16:11:13
Next generation of environmental-protection leaders. . .  

Release 09-40
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 28, 2009
	  	  	
Leo Kay
916-322-2990

Samantha Yale
(British Council) 202-588-7838

www.arb.ca.gov

British Council, Air Resources Board Announce 2009 California
Climate Champions

Students to Raise Awareness of Climate Change and Engage
Communities in Action

SACRAMENTO: Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols and the
British Council introduced California’s 10 high school “Climate
Champions” today on the steps of the State Capitol building in
Sacramento. As the U.S. representatives of British Council’s
International Climate Champions, the members of the California
program will educate peers and local communities on the impacts
of climate change and will encourage individual action to address
the causes of climate change.

Each Climate Champion will undertake an individual project over
the next year to tackle the causes of climate change and engage
peers in taking action:

    * Jason Bade, Foster City (Aragon High School): Jason would
like to apply one city’s successful residential solar panel
funding model to other cities across the state.
    * Mark Bessen, Rolling Hills Estates (Palos Verdes High
School): Mark plans on experimenting with microbial fuel cells as
energy generators.
    * Julia Borden, San Mateo (Aragon High School): Julia will
survey her school in order to determine the areas of energy usage
that need improvement, and will use the results to create an
action plan for changing these behaviors.
    * Kayla Clark, Atascadero (Templeton High School): Kayla
will encourage the use of metal reusable water bottles at her
school and identify options, including reverse osmosis machines,
for purifying tap water in the heavily-used parts of her campus.
    * Nicolas Dahlquist, Blue Jay (Rim of the World High
School): Nicolas plans to research and test whether biodiesel can
replace diesel fuels to power his town’s school buses.
    * Monica Harnoto, Mountain View (Saint Francis High School):
Monica’s project, Klimate Kidz, seeks to instill environmentally
sustainable values in grade-school students through skits, games,
songs and videos.
    * Soraya Okuda, San Francisco (Lowell High School): Soraya
hopes to create a composting system in the Stonestown Galleria
Mall and at San Francisco State University’s food courts to
reduce the amount of biodegradable food that gets processed with
trash.
    * Melissa Rangel, Chualar (Gonzales High School): Working
with peers, the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority, school
janitors and the city of Gonzales, Melissa will analyze how much
garbage and recycling her school produces and will take steps to
reduce trash.
    * Elizabeth Valencia, Antioch (Antioch High School):
Elizabeth will write and produce a play to inform students at Bay
Area schools about climate change and the risks of not taking
action now.
    * Andrea White, Placentia (Valencia High School): Andrea
will work with local officials to replace non-native plants that
draw too heavily on the local water supply with more
drought-resistant native varieties. 

“This bright new group of champions will build on the success of
last year’s program as they continue to work together to inspire
all Californians to tackle climate change,” Nichols said. “As ARB
moves forward with implementing California’s climate change
goals, these champions will help us by advancing innovative
solutions for what lies ahead of us, and change their future for
the better.”

ARB and British Council staff selected the champions based on
their dedication to tackling climate change, their communication
skills and their commitment to undertaking greenhouse
gas-reducing projects in their schools and communities.

“The British Council and our partner, the California Air
Resources Board, are delighted to welcome the 2009 California
Climate Champions. I look forward to witnessing the contributions
that each of these extraordinary young people will make over the
coming year as they build on the enthusiasm and success of the
2008 California Climate Champions,” said Sharon Memis, director
of the British Council United States.

Now in its second year, the California Climate Champions program
welcomes the new champions who will join a peer network of 15
California Climate Champions from 2008.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE CHAMPIONS: British Council
International Climate Champions range in age from 11 to 35 years,
varying by the country in which the program operates. In 2008 the
program grew to encompass more than 800 International Climate
Champions in 29 countries, and in 2009 there are plans to expand
to 60 countries across the globe, recruiting over 1,300 young
people who are passionate about and committed to taking action on
climate change. British Council and its partners help these young
people develop and implement projects within their local
communities that raise awareness of climate change, limit its
impact and reduce carbon emissions.

ABOUT ARB: Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 32 in September
2006, requiring ARB to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990
levels by 2020, roughly a 25 percent decrease. ARB’s Board
adopted the AB32 “scoping plan” in December 2008, which
identified a comprehensive set of strategies to achieve these
ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals. www.arb.ca.gov

ABOUT THE BRITISH COUNCIL: The British Council is the United
Kingdom’s international non-profit organization for cultural
relations and education opportunities. In the US, we increase
recognition of the wide range of learning opportunities available
in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and facilitate
educational cooperation between the US and UK. Through
transatlantic artistic partnerships, we introduce the American
public to high-quality, groundbreaking creative achievements from
the UK, and our science programs build networks that draw upon
the UK's innovation in climate change and other disciplines. We
also develop initiatives that give a voice to the next generation
of leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, encouraging them to
work together to explore solutions to current and future global
issues. To learn more, please visit www.britishcouncil.org/usa.

For more information, visit:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/usa-science-projects-climate-champions.htm
http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/climatechampions/climatechampions.htm
http://www.climatechamps.org

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California
Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and
protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through
effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and
considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air
pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain
health based air quality standards.

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