Oct. 23, 2007 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has handed out its annual leadership awards for green power purchasing. The honorees, which range from Fortune 500 companies to city governments to academia, are all participants in EPA's voluntary Green Power Partnership program.

"America is shifting to a 'green culture', with more and more businesses understanding that environmental responsibility is everyones responsibility, said Marcus Peacock, EPAs deputy administrator.

Each award winner has met or exceeded EPA purchase requirements for green power generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass, or low-impact hydro. This years Green Power Leadership Award winners are:

Green Power Partner of the Year

o City of Bellingham, Wash.
o Johnson & Johnson
o Mohawk Fine Papers
o PepsiCo
o Staples
o Wells Fargo & Company
o Whole Foods Market

On-Site Generation

o City of Chico, Calif.
o Macys Inc., West Division
o The Timberland Company

Green Power Purchasing

o Kohls Department Stores
o PepsiAmericas Inc.
o The Pepsi Bottling Group Inc.
o Pepsi Bottling Ventures
o New York University
o Sloan Valve Company, Illinois Manufacturing Facility
o Starbucks

EPA co-sponsors the Green Power Leadership Awards in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Center for Resource Solutions.