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Commission for Environmental Cooperation Announces Funding to Address Environmental Problems in North America

Release Date: 02/16/2012
Contact Information: Stacy Kika (News Media Only), [email protected], 202-564-0906, 202-564-4355; en español: Lina Younes, [email protected], 202-564-9924, 202-564-4355

WASHINGTON – Today, Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) council members including U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced the winners of more than $1.3 million of grants under the CEC’s North American Partnership for Environmental Community Action (NAPECA) program. The grants will support community efforts to promote healthy communities and ecosystems, encourage activities that address climate change through the transition to a low carbon economy, and advance innovative projects that could assist in greening the economies of the three countries.

Eighteen projects were chosen from 500 proposals received last year as part of a new initiative announced at the CEC Council’s meeting held in Montreal. The successful projects span the eco-regions of North America and support environmental action at the community level from the sub-arctic tundra, to the grasslands of the Great Plains, to the tropical forests of Mexico. Projects address issues ranging from the effects of climate change on Woodland Caribou and the Athabaskan Peoples in Canada, to citizen-powered air quality testing in Louisiana, and protecting the health of women and children through the adoption of better clean energy cook stoves in Mexico.

The 18 projects were selected based on their significance for addressing community and North American environmental issues, their innovation and technical or scientific approaches, their emphasis on promoting partnerships and demonstration of a plan to produce clear and tangible results. The projects represent an extremely broad base of hands-on groups and organizations, representing tribal nations, indigenous peoples, community organizations, environmental groups, and academic institutions.

The CEC council members include the environment ministers of the three NAFTA countries: Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent, Mexico’s Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources Juan Elvira Quesada and US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

A complete list of grantees: http://www.cec.org/napeca

More information on the Commission for Environmental Cooperation: https://www.epa.gov/oia/regions/na/nacec/index.html