Photo by Amber Marie

Game On: Super Bowl XLV Promises to Be Most Climate Friendly Yet By Meghan Groob, Press Assistant, Alliance for Climate Protection

Pardon the pun, but Super Bowl XLV is shaping up to be a touchdown for the planet. Thanks to efforts by the National Football League Environmental Program, this year’s game is on track to be the most climate friendly to date.

Like many events of this magnitude, the Super Bowl has a pretty sizable carbon footprint. Just Energy, which has partnered with the NFL and Super Bowl Host Committee for this year’s festivities, estimates that the energy expended between the game and all lead-up events could power 1,500 homes for an entire year.

To offset this pollution, organizers have purchased renewable energy certificates (RECs). This doesn’t mean the entire event will run on renewable energy. Instead, RECs act on a quid pro quo system — for every megawatt of energy used by Super Bowl XLV, a megawatt of renewable energy will be generated by a wind farm west of Dallas.

Although most of the focus is on the big game, the NFL also plans to use RECs to offset everything from team buses to the fan convention downtown. Even the television broadcast will be offset.

In an interview with Triple Pundit, Chris Brockbank, Chief Marketing Officer of Just Energy, said: “An estimated 100 million – 130 million people around the world watch the Super Bowl. The example we are setting is that large public sporting events like the Super Bowl will not have an impact on the environment, and that this is a priority of the NFL and the Super Bowl Host Committee.”

In addition, the NFL has hooked up with the U.S. Forest Service and the Texas Trees Foundation to plant 6,500 trees with help from local communities and schools. (Trees store carbon that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere.)

Beyond the Super Bowl, the NFL has taken the initiative to be more sustainable league-wide. The Philadelphia Eagles recently upgraded their stadium so that itgenerates all of its own electricity. My favorite team, the New York Jets, are “proud to be green in color and also in deed,” according to a team official. Like several other teams, the Jets have installed solar panel arrays on site.

But football isn’t the only sport embracing clean energy. A NASCAR track in Pennsylvania boasts 40,000 solar panels and uses 100% renewable energy.

What about your local team? From little leagues to the major leagues, we want to know how your favorite team is stepping up to the plate on climate change.