Greener In Newtown

By Kendra Bobowick

Going, going … green.

Connecticut is at the top of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) list, recognized this month as one of the nation’s top Green Power Purchasers.

“We are happy to be recognized as a leading state,” said Clean Energy Task Force member Ted Kreinik.

With a nod to the task force’s hard work to boost the state’s green efforts locally, Director of Planning and Community Development Elizabeth Stocker sent an email to task force members indicating, “Your work has been recognized and progress made.”

“I think it’s great,” said task force Chairman Dan Holmes.

In the past year the task force sought to put Newtown at the forefront in meeting Governor M. Jodi Rell’s challenge to municipalities: purchase 20 percent of your power supply from renewable energy sources by the year 2010. Aiming to lead the state, the task force sought more — 26 percent.

A recent EPA release states, “Connecticut’s purchase of green power resources began with Governor Rell’s vision for a cleaner, greener state, which set a goal of increasing the percentage of clean, renewable energy consumed by state government ...” Newtown’s Clean Energy Task Force also has an ongoing effort to promote renewable energy purchases by private residences.

Learn more about the state’s green initiatives at Ctcleanenergy.com, which urges visitors to join the 20 percent by 2010 campaign. Municipalities can sign up through this website.

According to its release, the EPA estimates that the State of Connecticut’s green power purchase of more than 98 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide emissions of nearly 13,000 passenger vehicles per year, or is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 9,000 average American homes.

EPA’s Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to purchase green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use. The Partnership currently has more than 1,000 partners voluntarily purchasing billions of kilowatt hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500 companies, small- and medium-sized businesses, local, state, and federal governments, trade associations, as well as colleges and universities.

For information and lists of recognized participants, see epa.gov/greenpower/toplists/index.htm.