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Utah student receives President's Environmental Youth Award from EPA

Release Date: 02/09/2006
Contact Information: Christine Vigil, (303) 312-6605, [email protected] Wendy Chipp, (303) 312-6603, [email protected]

Denver, Colo. - Feb. 9, 2006 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that Brent Singleton, a senior at Bonneville High School in Ogden, Utah, has won the President's Environmental Youth Award. In April, Singleton will travel to Washington, D.C., where he and PEYA winners from the Agency's other regions will meet President Bush in an award ceremony at the White House.

Singleton is being honored as an emerging leader in electric vehicle design. For a science fair and Eagle Scout project, he purchased a dismantled hybrid vehicle from Weber State University and modified it. The result was the world's first hybrid land speed racer. He has raced the vehicle in hybrid and zero-emissions mode at the world famous Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, Utah. Then, to help with his daily drive to school, he added solar panels and wind generators to recharge his 96-volt electric system while in class.

When Singleton travels to various racing venues, he uses his solar and wind-powered "Quadbrid" to tow his other race car -- the National Hot Rod Association's first electric-powered junior Dragster -- used in electric land speed racing. This Quadbrid tow-car and electro-dragster is the world's first fully sustainable race outfit.

"Brent has done some amazing and innovative things with his vehicle modifications," said Robert E. Roberts, Regional Administrator for EPA's Region 8 office. "His cutting-edge cars are wonderful examples of applied science and engineering making a difference. Brent isn't just setting speed records, he is advancing the development of high-performance electric vehicles and raising public awareness about alternative fuels, sustainability and the ecological importance of places like the Bonneville Salt Flats."

Every year, each of EPA's ten regional Environmental Education offices select a PEYA winner to represent them at the national PEYA awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. Singleton will represent the Region 8 Environmental Education office. The awards have been presented annually since 1971 to honor students in kindergarten through twelfth grade who develop projects that help protect their environments and promote environmental awareness in their communities.

More information on the PEYA Awards Program is available at:
https://www.epa.gov/region8/env_ed/peya/index.html

More information on Region 8's Environmental Education Program is available at:
https://www.epa.gov/region08/env_ed/

More information on the EPA Environmental Education Program is available at:
https://www.epa.gov/enviroed/