EPA Awards Green Businesses and Cities

The Environmental Protection Agency recognized 14 companies, two cities and one major university as leaders in "green" business practices. The 17 organizations were awarded the EPA's Green Power Leadership Awards on Monday at the Annual National Renewable Energy Marketing Conference. The Award program is a joint effort on the part of the EPA, the US Department of Energy and the Center for Resource Solutions.

The Green Power Leadership Awards are meant to recognize companies that seek out and voluntarily purchase energy that is generated through renewable means. The increased interest on green power is a growing trend as more and more people are accepting the science that tells us that human activity is responsible for elevated carbon levels in the atmosphere, and that the carbon is the result of burning fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, to feed energy needs. "Green power" seeks to alleviate the need for fossil fuels by choosing sources such as wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric power as well as cleaner burning biofuels.

Bellingham, Washington and Chico, California are being recognized as cities that are Green Power Partners and On Site Generators respectively. More Partners are major corporations such as PepsiCo, Johnson and Johnson, Staples, Wells Fargo, Whole Foods, and Mohawk Fine Papers. Macy's West Division and the Timberland Company are lauded as other On Site Generators of green power. The other organizations receiving the Green Power Leadership Awards are significant purchasers of renewable power and include Kohl's, Starbucks, Pepsi's Bottling Divisions, New York University and a factory in Illinois, the Sloan Valve Company.

The efforts of the above groups account for either the generation or purchase of over four billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, which the EPA estimates is equal to the power used by nearly a quarter of a million American households annually. This amount of electricity from green sources is like taking almost a half million cars worth of carbon dioxide emissions out of the atmosphere each year. In addition to creating and buying renewable electricity, the aforementioned organizations also make a commitment to increasing awareness of green power, by informing their customers or residents of the benefits of renewable resources for power generation.

Marcus Peacock, the EPA's deputy administrator said in a press release that the "EPA commends the Green Power Leadership Award winners for making a long-term commitment to protecting the environment by purchasing green power."

The EPA Green Power Partnership website also lists many other companies and organizations that use significant amounts of green power, as well as the percentage of electricity that each company uses that comes from green sources. Many other organizations are also making large segment of their total energy use green-based, such as The EPA and Department of Energy.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency