Solar One, Riverkeeper and Earth Day New York receive checks from Green Mountain to continue to help support organization’s local environmental efforts
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Doug Semmes, New York Market Manager, Green Mountain Energy Company, presents a check to Chris Collins, Executive Director, Solar One, Friday, June 10th, 2011 at Solar One’s local office.
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New York, NY –Green Mountain Energy Company, the nation’s leading competitive retail provider of cleaner energy, presented three local environmental organizations with checks and renewable energy to offset their carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) as part of an Earth Month Charity Voting Challenge. Solar One, Riverkeeper and Earth Day New York will each receive a share of the $5,000 prize.
The donations were a result of Green Mountain’s first Earth Month Charity Voting Challenge in April. Through the Challenge, Green Mountain Facebook fans and customers were encouraged to vote for their favorite New York charity to help it receive a portion of an overall $5,000 donation. The $5,000 donation was then split between the three charities based on the percentage of votes each received. In addition to the checks, Green Mountain also surprised each charity with a certificate for New York wind-generated Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to offset the CO2 associated with each charity’s office electricity usage for the month of June! This will help each organization reduce its impact on the environment and support renewable energy development in New York.
“As a company founded with an environmental mission, we are thrilled to partner with these three New York City charities to help them improve our environment,” said John Holtz, director, Eastern U.S. Energy Markets, Green Mountain Energy Company. “Each of these charities is dedicated to the environment and inspires New York residents to adopt greener lifestyles, including our own Green Mountain employees who have pledged to volunteer at each charity’s events throughout the year.”
Solar One Check Presentation
On June 10, 2011, Green Mountain’s mascot, Super Earth, joined Doug Semmes, New York Market Manager from Green Mountain’s New York office to present the check for $2,311 and certificate for Renewable Energy Credits to Chris Collins, Executive Director of Solar One. Solar One received the greatest amount of votes. The donation will be used to help Solar One continue its efforts to educate, provide green jobs, encourage volunteerism, and spread awareness about green energy in New York.
Earth Day New York
On June 10, 2011, John Yandrasits, Green Mountain’s New York Partnerships Coordinator, and Super Earth presented to Earth Day New York a check for $701 and a certificate for Renewable Energy Credits to Joanna Black, Managing Director from Earth Day New York. Green Mountain is also donating carbon offsets to Earth Day New York for the month of June in order to further help the environment. Earth Day New York is committed to encouraging New Yorkers to take positive action for the planet through educational initiatives and events. The donation from Green Mountain will supplement the E campaign along with EDNY’s educational events including Environmental Education Week and the Earth Day New York Speaker’s Bureau.
Riverkeeper Check Presentation
On July 12, 2011, Green Mountain’s John Holtz, Director of Eastern U.S. Energy Markets, presented to Riverkeeper the $1,989 check along with a certificate for Renewable Energy Credits. Riverkeeper is New York’s clean water advocate and has been dedicated to protecting the drinking water supply of nine million New York City and Hudson Valley Residents for the past 44 years. The donation will be used to further educate residents through print and electronic media, along with a traveling photo exhibit.
About Solar One
Solar One is the City’s first solar-powered “Green Energy, Arts, and Education Center,” and inspires New Yorkers to become environmentally responsible city dwellers. The organization does so through a variety of unique programs that seek to reach out to broad sections of the New York City population in order to connect people to the urban environment around them. No matter who you are or what you do, Solar One likely has a program to engage your interests. Solar One provides in-school, education, job training, outreach and cultural programs while also maintaining one of New York’s most unique spaces at Stuyvesant Cove Park. For more information, visit solar1.org.
About Riverkeeper
Riverkeeper’s core mission is enforcing environmental laws to ensure a healthy Hudson River. It has been the Hudson River’s leading watchdog and advocate for more than 40 years, working to protect the ecological integrity of the river, its tributaries and the watersheds that provide drinking water to 9 million New York City and the Hudson Valley residents. Riverkeeper is pursuing long-term solutions to the challenges facing the entire Hudson River estuary: the replacement and rebuilding of aging infrastructure to eliminate combined sewage overflows; the dredging of PCBs; declaring the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek as Superfund sites; the reduction of power plant and development impacts on river ecology and wildlife. At the same time, Riverkeeper is testing water quality for the entire span of the river, from New York Harbor to Troy, and posting the results on its Web site, because it believes every New Yorker has the right to clean water and access to water quality information. For more information, visit riverkeeper.org.
About Earth Day New York
Earth Day New York (EDNY) was founded in late 1989 by a broad coalition of environmental groups to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Earth Day in New York City. Today, EDNY is a low-overhead, broadly educational non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes environmental awareness and solutions through a three-pronged program: 1) involving schools, teachers and students through the Earth Day Education Program; 2) educating public and private policymakers through conferences and publications; and, 3) involving the general public in annual Earth Day events.
About Green Mountain Energy Company
Green Mountain, the nation’s leading competitive retail provider of cleaner energy and carbon offset solutions, was founded in 1997 to “change the way power is made.” The company is the longest serving green power marketer in the U.S. Green Mountain offers consumers and businesses the choice of clean electricity products from renewable sources, such as wind, as well as a variety of carbon offset products. Green Mountain’s largest customer is the “world’s most famous office building,” the Empire State Building in New York City. Green Mountain customers have collectively helped avoid over 11.3 billion pounds of CO2 emissions. As a wholly owned subsidiary of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG), Green Mountain is backed by one of the nation’s largest renewable power producers. For more information, visit GreenMountain.com.
