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City of Manhattan Beach

Beacon Participant Profile

“Manhattan Beach has a long history of environmental sensitivity and activism, as a community and as a city government. In the coming months and years we will be taking these efforts to new levels as the City Council has made sustainability a priority goal. Over half of this year’s City Council work plan relates to green issues, and there will be plenty of opportunity for our local businesses and residents to be involved in taking action to protect our environment.” – City of Manhattan Beach Going Green Website

About Manhattan Beach

  • Incorporated: 1912
  • Population: 35,135 (2010) 
  • Location: 19 miles Southwest of Los Angeles on the South end of Santa Monica Bay
  • Elevation: 120 feet
  • Area: 3.88 square miles

Climate Action Activities

  • HEAL Cities Campaign Participant
  • SoCal Edison’s Energy Leader Partnership Program Member
  • Member Green Cities California
  • Completed Greenhouse Gas Inventory
  • Completed Municipal Climate Action Plan in collaboration with the Environmental Task Force, April 2010
  • Community Climate Action Plan in process
  • Adopted Tree Preservation Program in 1993 and expanded in 2003
  • Retrofit and replaced all lighting at city facilities in 1995
  • Replace existing city fleet vehicles with low-emission vehicles where feasible
  • Completed LEED Certified Police and Fire Facilities, 2006
  • Established the Green Team in Summer 2007 to compile data on the City’s own environmental programs, research successful programs and best practices implemented in other communities, and develop a list of actions for future consideration by City Council.
  • Adopted Plactic Bag Ban and Reusable Bag Program, July 2008
  • Conducted comprehensive bikeway study, 2009
  • Adopted Green Purchasing Plan, 2010
  • October 2010 Manhattan Beach supported the Global Environmental Movement and hosted a Sustainability Summit and Eco-Fair, 350 International Day of Climate Action, Earth Hour. 350 parts per million is the upper limit of carbon dioxide that leading science tells us we should have in the atmosphere.

Climate Action Resources

Awards

Leadership in Climate Resilience and Adaptation Leadership & Innovation Award (2021)

Silver Beacon Award (2016)

Agency Energy Savings

  • Platinum Level, 26% (2013)

Agency Natural Gas Savings

  • Silver Level, 8% (2016)

Agency Greenhouse Gas Reductions

  • Silver Level, 9% (2015)

Community Greenhouse Gas Reductions

  • Silver Level, 9% (2015)

Sustainability Best Practices

  • Platinum Level (2015)
  • Gold Level (2013)
Case Story

Manhattan Beach Promotes Health Through Community Design

In 2010, the City of Manhattan Beach joined the Blue Zones Project–Vitality City Initiative,15 a regionally funded effort to enhance the well-being of people who live and work in the beach cities of Southern California. The goal of the regional partnership is to make the beach community a more walkable, bikeable, healthy and socially engaged place by implementing sustainable land use and community design principles.

Case Story

City of Manhattan Beach – Involving the Public in Climate Change Action

Manhattan Beach established an Environmental Task Force composed of residents and city officials to develop recommendations to the City Council to address a range of environmental challenges, including the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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