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Microsoft Environmental Director Receives EPA Climate Change Leadership Award

Release Date: 02/28/2013
Contact Information: Contact: Suzanne Skadowski, EPA Region 10 Communications, 206-553-6689, skadowski.suzanne@epa.gov

(Seattle – February 28, 2013) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Center for Corporate Climate Leadership awarded TJ DiCaprio, Senior Director of Environmental Sustainability at Microsoft, the 2013 Climate Change Individual Leadership Award for helping to reduce carbon pollution and address climate change.

“Our Climate Leadership Award winners are leading by example with their outstanding actions to reduce carbon pollution,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. "These organizations are tackling the challenge of climate change with practical, common-sense, and cost-saving solutions to improve efficiency and cut waste.”

EPA awarded Tamara “TJ” DiCaprio a 2013 Climate Change Individual Leadership Award for her extraordinary leadership in Microsoft’s response to climate change. DiCaprio is the Senior Director of Environmental Sustainability at Microsoft, a global IT software and services company with 90,000+ employees operating in more than 100 countries.

DiCaprio led the effort to establish Microsoft's recent commitment to carbon neutrality for its data centers, software development labs, offices, and employee air travel. A key component of this aggressive GHG reduction policy is an internal carbon fee, which provides an innovative approach to voluntary operational accountability and is already helping to change behavior. Internalizing the cost of pollution through financial measures offers greater incentives to reduce emissions while raising funds for efficiency and renewable energy projects, helping to advance measures to mitigate climate change.

In order to design and implement this new carbon fee model, DiCaprio worked with senior executives across Microsoft to build a compelling business case that convinced Microsoft’s CFO to adopt and support this critical measure. Microsoft’s use of an internal carbon fee is now serving as a model for other Fortune 500 companies and public sector organizations considering new GHG reduction strategies, including increased use of renewable energy.

DiCaprio was also responsible for leading Microsoft to achieve its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 30 percent per unit of revenue from 2007 levels by 2012 through a series of efficiency initiatives and purchasing renewable energy. As a result of her vision and efforts, Microsoft purchased 1.1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power in 2012, making Microsoft the third largest purchaser of green power in the United States.

The national climate change leadership awards program honors corporate, organizational, and individual leadership in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in internal operations and throughout the supply chain. The awards were presented at the Climate Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.

More about the Climate Leadership Awards: https://www.epa.gov/climateleadership/awards/2013winners.html
Follow EPA’s Center for Corporate Climate Leadership on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPAclimatectr