The city of Palo Alto was awarded the first ever Platinum Level Beacon Award for Climate Change Leadership on Sept. 14 at the League of California Cities’ annual conference in Sacramento.

“We basically focused on climate change, more than any other city in the state,” Palo Alto Mayor Greg Scharff told The Daily News by phone on Friday. “Climate change is the issue of our time. It’s important we do all we can to combat it.”

In 2014, Palo Alto became the second city to win a Beacon Award, getting a Silver Level Award for achieving measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and for energy savings.

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Since then, according to city spokesperson Lisa Caracciolo, Palo Alto has more than doubled its projected energy savings in agency facilities and operations from energy efficiency retrofits.

The Institute for Local Government and the Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative gave the platinum award to Palo Alto for its “20 percent community greenhouse gas reductions; 53 percent agency greenhouse gas reductions; 22 percent energy savings in agency facilities and operations; 35 percent natural gas savings; and sustainability best practices.”

At the award ceremony, Scharff said “Palo Alto strives to create a community where sustainability is a way of life. As a city, we have set a new bar, for ourselves and others, to continue to strive for excellence in how we operate our facilities and integrate green practices into our everyday lives.”

Talking about global warming on Friday, Scharff indicated he was disappointed in federal responses since President Donald Trump took office.

“We’re looking at what happened with the hurricanes. Things get worse and worse,” Scharff said. “I just hope we as a nation can move forward. I was disappointed that we left the Paris Accords. I signed a letter, with other mayors, protesting that.

“It’s stunning, what goes on at the federal level. I am disappointed in a whole range of actions they have taken.”