From The Mayor's Desk ...
CFLs: Save Money & Energy And Help Save Our Planet

Global warming is a huge problem. In fact, it's so big that people can sometimes feel helpless in the face of it. But in reality, there is a lot that we all can do in our daily lives to help protect our environment from climate change.

Let me give you a good example. This month, 2.4 million customers in our city are opening their Con Edison home utility bills and finding a $1 coupon for the purchase of General Electric "Energy Smart" compact fluorescent light bulbs, or "CFLs." This is a really good deal on a number of counts. For one thing, CFLs are far more energy-efficient than the incandescent bulbs that they're designed to replace. They also last about eight times longer. In fact, for every CFL you install in your home, you can save up to $100 in lower electricity bills and fewer replacement lights over the life of the bulb.

Bottom line: CFLs save energy, save money, and also help save our planet. It's a real winning formula for everyone, which is why we've installed CFLs at City Hall, and why I'm using them in my own home, too.

Now, even though they more-than pay for themselves, CFLs do cost more than incandescent bulbs. And that can discourage people from converting to their use. So to overcome that obstacle, the city has formed a public-spirited partnership with Con Ed and G.E. Another corporate partner, Bank of America, is offering the CFL coupons at banking centers in our city. And city government is making the coupons available to residents of public housing and city-subsidized housing, at Green-markets operated by the non-profit Council on the Environment of New York City, and at the city's web site: www.nyc.gov.

This coupon program is part of a larger effort called GreeNYC, an educational campaign that will help individual New Yorkers do their part to reduce our city's production of greenhouse gases. Our goal is to cut these global warming gases 30% by the year 2030. In fact, you may already have seen our "Small Steps, Big Strides" messages in television commercials and in outdoor ads around town. They describe ten things we can all do to make a difference- things like paying bills electronically instead of by mail, not air conditioning empty rooms, and unplugging appliances and chargers when they're not in use.