SAN DIEGO, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Mayor Jerry Sanders and the City of San Diego will honor Bank of America today with the annual City of San Diego Climate Protection Champion Award, recognizing the company's local and national efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Bank of America is one of three organizations selected to receive the award.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050720/CLW086LOGO-b )
As part of its ten-year, $20 billion environmental initiative announced last year, Bank of America awarded its first set of "green grants" in January to four San Diego nonprofits totaling $500,000. These grants support a new clean technology business cluster, the development of policy and grassroots solutions to curb global warming, and green building efforts. Bank of America has also recently provided $6 million in financing to San Diego businesses for renewable energy and green building projects as part of the environmental initiative.
Bank of America's environmental initiative addresses climate change through innovative lending and investing strategies, new financial products and services, and operations.
"Bank of America has a long history in San Diego, and knows first hand the resolve and resources its leaders have dedicated to becoming the greenest city on earth. We are honored to be part of these efforts and to accept this award," said Rick Bregman, San Diego Market President, Bank of America. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions while investing in renewable energy and clean technologies is the right thing for our planet and smart business for Bank of America. These investments are a clear reflection of the Bank's continued commitment to the San Diego community."
Bank of America has a legacy of environmental leadership dating back two decades, when it began implementing an environmental focus to its own operations and business practices. For example, it does not finance projects that would destroy primary moist tropical rainforests, certain endangered forests or companies involved in illegal logging. The company reduced paper usage per associate by 40 percent, and set aggressive, voluntary goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the company 9 percent through the reduction of its energy consumption. Bank of America also reimburses its associates $3,000 when they buy a hybrid car -- a benefit that began as a pilot in Southern California. More information on Bank of America's environmental efforts can be found at http://www.bankofamerica.com/environment .
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 59 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 6,100 retail banking offices, nearly 18,500 ATMs and award-winning online banking with nearly 25 million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in more than 150 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Fortune Global 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
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SOURCE: Bank of America
CONTACT: Colleen Haggerty of Bank of America, +1-213-621-7414,
colleen.haggerty@bankofamerica.com
Web site: http://www.bankofamerica.com/environment
http://www.bankofamerica.com/
