Today the EPA recognized Southwest Airlines as one of its Green Power Leaders for purchasing green power at our Dallas and Houston operations.  What does that mean?  It means that our Dallas and Houston operations are purchasing nearly 16 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of Green Power, which is enough to meet 30 percent of the factilities’ purchased electricity use.  We buy renewable energy certificates (REC) from Reliant Energy.  Green power is electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact hydro--our energy credits are wind resources. You can read all about the news here.  For more information on the EPA’s Top Partner list, go here. 

We had some other “power” news this week as the Air Transport Association announced on Tuesday a deal with Los Angeles World Airports and RenTech, Inc, a clean energy company, to purchase renewable, synthetic diesel (RenDiesel) for ground equipment at LAX beginning in 2012.  Southwest was one of eight carriers that signed this agreement.  Southwest has always been very forward thinking about our ground equipment.  Systemwide, we have more than 700 pieces that run on electricity.  Space constraints at LAX prevented us from using electric equipment there because of a lack of room for the large charging stations, so we are thrilled to be part of this ground-breaking agreement 

Southwest is always looking for ways to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly.  We have a Green Team at Southwest who helps the Company put a “green filter” on business decisions, while remaining true to our low-cost philosophy.  We work with our industry partners to help develop solutions to Climate Change, and we try to do all we can at Southwest to operate as efficiently as possible – efficiency means effective use of resources, and we strive to be as productive as possible while minimizing waste and protecting the environment. Many of the environmental decisions we make are great business decisions, too, which is really what sustainability is all about.  You can learn more about how Southwest tries to do the right thing for Our Planet, as well as Our Communities, Our People, and Our Suppliers, at www.southwest.com/cares.