Date:

April 1, 2009

For More Information Contact:

Diane Gonzolas, Citizen Information Center, 441-7831

Milo Mumgaard, Mayor's Office, 441-7511

Mayor Chris Beutler and Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning today announced a partnership that will create the Cleaner Greener Lincoln Initiative. The Attorney General's Office is providing $50,000 from a lawsuit settlement to launch the initiative. The City also will use about $2.4 million in stimulus funds to support the effort. Those funds are available through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.

"The Cleaner Greener Lincoln Initiative is a comprehensive effort to make Lincoln government more energy efficient, save taxpayer dollars and leave our children with blue skies and a healthy, green landscape," Beutler said. "The combination of these funding sources gives us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to implement a sustainability program that provides for our community's environmental needs while encouraging job growth."

"I'm pleased to partner with Mayor Beutler and the City of Lincoln to help develop and implement environmental programs," said Bruning. "This important effort is good for the environment, good for Lincoln and good for Nebraska."

The Mayor has chosen Milo Mumgaard, a public interest attorney, to start the new initiative. Mumgaard also will take on Denise Pearce's duties as a Senior Policy Aide during her extended maternity leave. Mumgaard was the founding Executive Director of the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest. Mumgaard most recently served as the Midwest Regional Director for State Operations for Common Cause, and prior to that as an associate general counsel for the national AFL-CIO. The Lincoln native has a law degree from the New York University School of Law, and was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

"I look forward to helping build upon the great work toward sustainability already launched by Mayor Beutler and City government and the partnerships among business, industry, government and the nonprofit sectors," Mumgaard said. "I'm anxious to get going."

Goals of the Cleaner Greener Lincoln Initiative will include:

• Implementation of a landfill gas and recovery program to turn pollution into an energy solution.
• Exploration of alternate fuel solutions to substitute for the over one million gallons of gas the City burns annually in order to clean the air and save taxpayer dollars.
• Growing the City's recycling program to reduce the need for future landfill space.
• Expansion of energy audits of local government buildings to reduce energy waste and preserve tax dollars for other uses.
• Creation of new opportunities for walking and biking to support our fellow citizens who want to use green modes of transportation, and improve their health at the same time.
• Promotion of positive incentives for local businesses to embrace energy efficiency.
• Removal of the City government impediments to green building and encourage LEED standard buildings.