The NAACP has joined over 100 religious and community organizations to sign a collaborative energy agreement that demonstrates the Association’s commitment to green energy. Starting this year, a full 100% of the energy that the NAACP’s Baltimore headquarters consumes will come from Green-E Certified Wind Power.
The NAACP’s energy will come from Clean Currents, which procures all their electricity through Renewable Energy Certificates, with a significant proportion coming from local and national wind energy. In the first year of this agreement, the NAACP national office will save approximately 18% on its energy bill.
“In this time when the financial and environmental costs of energy are focal concerns of the nation, the NAACP welcomes this opportunity to be a beacon for reform,” stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “We hope to demonstrate that clean energy and collaborative agreements can be cost-effective and also save lives.”
For the past two years, the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program has promoted policies that support clean energy and worked internally to find sustainable practices that also save money. The NAACP’s interdepartmental GREEN Team (Get Ready for Energy Efficiency Now) is tasked with advancing institutional energy efficiency and clean energy initiatives.
Many studies, including an upcoming report by the NAACP and partners on coal fired electricity generation, have demonstrated how some electricity generating processes/facilities have a negative impact on community health and wellbeing by emitting mercury, arsenic, lead, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and carbon dioxide.
“The NAACP encourages other businesses, organizations, churches, etc. to seek out mechanisms to support clean and renewable energy, advance cooperative economics at the local level, and promote locally-sourced, lower cost electricity,” stated Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program Jacqueline Patterson. “We hope to be a living example of the power and benefits of implementing sustainable practices at the local level.”
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