Madison Welcomes EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy

I was pleased to be among the Madisonians who met today with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy.  She had the opportunity to learn more about what Madison, through the assistance of Sustain Dane, has done with the MPower program.  It was really inspiring to listen to speakers like Kate Schachter of Union Cab Cooperative, John Mulcahey with UW Health and Ross Hansen of CUNA Mutual.  Those business leaders have made great strides in increasing energy efficiency through MPower initiatives.

The MPower Business Champion Program is a one year, fully customizable program allowing businesses to take advantage of dozens of sustainability resources and experts in an effort to reduce waste and energy use, increase employee engagement, and create a healthy, vibrant workplace.  Participating businesses are assisted as they develop and rollout a sustainability strategy that will enable them to achieve measurable results.  http://www.mpoweringmadison.com/mchampions

Ross Hansen with CUNA Mutual talked about the number of employees who have started to bike to work as a result of their MPower involvement.

Sustain Dane, with leadership from Jessie Lerner and her staff, has overseen the MPower program with the EPA grant and funding from Madison Gas and Electric.  As a result of the five-year program, over 240 MPower projects have been implemented for a total savings to businesses involved of $916,000.

It was great to hear Gina McCarthy talk about her impressions of Madison and of our new 'repurposed' library.  We are doing a great job as we work to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.  As I told the many attendees who were at today's event, I felt lucky to be there but they were the people who did all the work.