27 April 1999

Green Energy — How about your city?

Dear GENI Friend,

Earth Day was founded three decades ago to raise environmental awareness. Many of us began to recycle paper and aluminum cans, read labels on food and eat lower on the food chain. These are good personal changes in lifestyle, but they are not sufficient to the scale of the problem.

What can you do that will make a big difference in your hometown? Today, deregulation has created new opportunities in buying power that didn't exist last year. Just as the telephone industry has provided many options — you now have the option to actually buy renewable electricity for your needs (electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and hydro). Your willingness to pay a few extra dollars per month will help push the market towards building even more renewable energy generation.

Several city governments are making the commitment to shift to green energy providers. Santa Monica, CA was the first. The Mayor of Waco, TX has pledged to meet 25% of their needs from renewables, as four large wind turbines go on-line this month. The City of San Diego is considering a proposal to go 100% green power — and get a cost reduction as well! Call and ask your city council to look into this option.

People often ask what they can do to support The GENI Initiative. This is an easy call that all of us can make. In doing so, you will help clean the air, reduce groundwater pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. That's a major contribution to the planet. Please consider doing this as soon as "green electricity" is available in your area.

In partnership for the planet,

Peter Meisen
President

p.s. Attached is the Earth Day Clean Energy Agenda. There's always more that you can do in your home, school, workplace and community.

Other Attachments:

[Africa Needs Energy Infrastructure to Fully Develop by Charles W. Corey, USIA Staff Writer, April 1999]

[U.S. — Africa Energy Ministers Conference: A Partnership for the 21st Century, October 21, 1999]

Keywords : Green Energy - How about your city? - recycle paper, aluminum cans, wind, geothermal, biomass, hydro, clean air, reduce groundwater, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, Earth Day Clean Energy Agenda