Energize Green Power on Vashon and be part of the movement to make Vashon a Coal Free Zone*

 WE DID IT!

WE signed up 110 new enrollments in July, 2010, guaranteeing our island $10,000 from PSE for a community solar project.  Now we've accepted a challenge to do more!

Sign up an additional 60 Vashonites by the end of the year and PSE will toss in an additional $5,000!! 

                                                                                              
YOU HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Join your Vashon friends, neighbors, and businesses** in securing a clean, healthy, local energy supply for now and the future. Be part of a growing movement on Vashon/Maury Island and become a COAL FREE ZONE!  To learn how go to http://coalfreezone.org/?page_id=70.

You may not realize that in 2008, Vashon-Maury residents and businesses consumed approximately $9 million of electricity (100,000 MWh), and that 36% of that electricity was supplied by coal (www.pse.com).  Stunning!  

The good news is that we have the power to become coal free, and, in doing so, to nudge PSE toward shutting down its Montana coal plant by 2015***, rather than the projected goal of 2020. 

More good news is that PSE is ready to help, through its Conservation and Green Power programs (http://www.pse.com/greenpower).
Sustainable Vashon and Puget Sound Energy are partnering with local residents and businesses to increase our commitment to reduce the island’s CO2 footprint by investing in renewable energy.

Our NEW Goal of enrolling 60 additional Green Power participants in 2010, for a total of 200 new island subscribers will bring overall island participation to 750, up from 549 as of January 2010.

We are on a roll. Let's keep the momentum going!

**KUDOS TO VASHON BUSINESSES:

Artisan Electric, Andrea Walker, Cafe Luna, Fair Isle Animal Clinic, Healthier Air & Heating LLC, PRAHM (Paradise Ridge Acupuncture Herbs and Massage), The Hardware Store, Vashon Allied Arts, Vashon College, and Vashon Natural Medicine have all enrolled in the Green Power Program.

 Thanks to The Vashon/Maury Chamber of Commerce for urging island businesses to enroll in Green Power.  

***COAL FREE BY 2015?  

In order to reduce our electricity demand by 36% of current use, we need to embrace a program of conservation (see http://www.wisenergyvashon.com/ for help) and significantly increase enrollment in the Green Energy program.

That’s where Sustainable Vashon comes in.  In 2008, we were awarded $20,000 by PSE to help fund our Solar Initiative, a demonstration project which installed model solar arrays on the Land Trust and Vashon Household rooftops. The funds were granted in recognition of Vashon/Maury Islands’ stellar participation in the Green Power Program.  At 8% participation, we are currently #1 in Washington State, which is great, but no where near enough to qualify as coal free.  WE CAN DO BETTER!

That’s why Sustainable Vashon decided to collaborate with our friends at the Backbone Campaign in a new island wide project: The Coal Free Zone. We want to inspire Vashonites to get off coal, through conservation and investment in renewable energy.  We can lead the nation.  The time is now!

 *CoalFreeZone.org is a project of the Backbone Campaign and
Sustainable Vashon. Click here to visit the CoalFreeZone.org website.