Michael Giberson
The Philadelphia Eagles have issued a “Declaration of Energy Independence,” and are inviting other sports franchises and businesses to join with them.
What does that mean, you ask? They say they are embracing “environmental sustainability with great seriousness and conviction by powering Lincoln Financial Field with a combination of onsite wind, solar and dual-fuel generated electricity.”
And what is “dual-fuel” generated electricity? The press announcement doesn’t explain in much detail, but here is a bit:
Solar Blue, based in Florida, is going to invest close to $30 million over the next year to build, install, maintain and operate this new power system that will include approximately 80 spiral-shaped wind turbines, 2,500 solar panels and an onsite dual-fuel cogeneration plant. The power system is targeted to be ready to go for September, 2011.
The announcement continues, chatting about about the jobs that will be created by the initiative and other trivia (and no mention about the other jobs, elsewhere, that will be destroyed by this change in plans).
Since they are presumably not producing “dual fuel” on site, I’m a little baffled by the “energy independence” claim. I assume one of the dual-fuels is natural gas, a modest fraction of which is imported from Canada, and the other dual-fuel is … don’t know. Maybe more details will emerge.
More on “The Greening of Professional Sports,” from NRDC analyst Kaid Benfield. Seems like mostly feel-good symbolism by overpaid sports entertainment companies, but maybe I’m just cynical.