The Sierra Club's Cool Cities Campaign has announced the winners of its 2009 Cool Cities video contest. First prize went to North Hempstead, New York, for the video above. Second and third place were snatched up by two Illinois cities, Gurnee and Naperville.
Cool Cities organizers Colleen Sarna, Cammy Watkins, and Glen Brand announced the contest via e-mail in March. "We wanted people to talk about their experiences and successes in building Cool Cities campaigns," says Sarna. "The entries we received did a great job of showcasing solutions that activists have promoted in making theirs a cool city."
The winning videos were chosen by asking the Cool Cities community, which currently numbers nearly 7,000 resigtered users, to vote for their favorite three videos. You can view all the entries here. And Sarna notes that just because the contest is over doesn't mean new videos shouldn't be submitted for posting to the Cool Cities YouTube site. "We look forward to hearing more successes from activists in the field," she says.
Cool Cities are locales that have made a commitment to stopping global warming by signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Begun in 2005, the Cool Cities Campaign empowers residents and local leaders to join together and encourage their cities to implement smart energy solutions that will curb global warming emissions and save money for their communities. There are now upward of 1,100 Cool Cities in the U.S. and Canada.
"It's exciting to see the progress being made all over North America," Sarna says. "When there was no federal leadership on climate change in the U.S., Cool Cites was a real trend-setter in problem-solving and brainstorming solutions—and it continues to be so. Progress happens at the local level first, and Cool Cities represents progress on climate change on the local level."
Learn more about how to get involved and help make yours a Cool City.


