The mainstream media has always voiced its concern over the rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere but the media houses themselves have not always tried to follow what they have preached so far.
However, NBC 11 has set upon itself the noble task of saving our green planet from future climatic catastrophe by adopting green energy source to power its TV station in San Jose. As of Friday, March 7, 2008, NBC11 has become the first television in the U.S. to be powered by wind. Every bit of power for their San Jose TV station will come from wind power produced by wind farms and transferred over the grid. The first of its kind green energy usage program adopted by any TV station in USA is part of NBC 11’s ‘Ecologic’ campaign.
The campaign apprises NBC 11 employees, viewers and local business on how they can reduce carbon footprints and economize energy use at workplace and at home. NBC11 kicked off the campaign internally in January with an appeal to employees to reduce electricity consumption by simply turning off unnecessary lighting and shutting down computers and equipment when not in use. After two consecutive months of reduced electricity usage, NBC11 invested in Renewable Energy Certificates to offset the electricity used by the station’s San Jose studios and to help fund wind energy providers.
NBC 11 through its ‘Going Green’ page and the ecological stories is helping to educate its viewers of the importance of using clean alternative energy sources to combat global warming. Wind energy if adopted on a large scale is believed to reduce the energy bill of the consumer considerably. A landmark study of wind integration into the New York State electric power system has shown that 10% addition of wind generation can actually cause $305 million reduction in payments by electricity customers in one year.
“This is not a hollow marketing tactic. We are taking a very frank appraisal of our carbon footprint, and will take our viewers through the process as we make changes and improvements to our building and our lives,” said NBC11 President and General Manager Richard Cerussi.
NBC11, in partnership with 3Degrees, committed to renewable energy through purchasing Green-e Energy Certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) equivalent to the station’s of electricity consumption at the main studios in San Jose. This purchase has an equivalent environmental impact of preventing over 2,000 metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, or of 473 acres of forest storing carbon annually.
– from NBC11
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