The 20-day, 10 city national Energy Star Change a Light Bus Tour has concluded with nearly 1 million Americans across the country pledging to change more than 2.6 million lights to help fight climate change.
This represents a potential savings of nearly $70 million in energy costs and prevention of 1 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.
Consumer event stops were held at California’s Disneyland® Resorts; a Broncos Football Game in Denver; Navy Pier in Chicago; a Falcons Game in Atlanta; Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston; and today’s stop in Manhattan’s Union Square. Media event stops showcased what a few leading schools and their students are doing to participate in the national Energy Star Change a Light Campaign. EPA presented Environmental Leadership Awards to faculty and students at schools in Denver, Chicago and Atlanta.
At each tour stop, the Energy Star Change a Light Education Center was set up with interactive displays to convey the importance of looking for the Energy Star label on lighting, how to use and dispose of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) responsibly, and the connection between our personal energy use and our climate.
The top five organizations leading the pledge initiative in order of most pledges to least, are: Alabama Power Co.; National Association of Counties; Georgia Power Co.; New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program; and Arizona’s Salt River Project. The top five organizations in five different categories can be viewed from the pledge site.
Motor Coach Industries (MCI), a large North American manufacturer of inter-city motor coaches, provided the bus for the tour. MCI’s bus is a state-of-the-art J4500 LX motor coach, powered by a 2007 EPA-model clean diesel engine fitted with a particulate scrubber, and fueled by ultra low sulfur diesel.
Lighting accounts for about 20 percent of a home’s electricity use. If every U.S. household changed just one light bulb or fixture to an Energy Star bulb, each year our country would save $600 million in energy costs, enough energy to light 3 million homes, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from more than 800,000 cars.
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