Pennsylvania going green

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HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell announced a $22 million grant for smaller municipalities to fund projects that will conserve electricity and natural gas.

The Democratic governor announced the Pennsylvania's Conservation Works! grant program will help save more than 570 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, reduce gas consumption by 2.1 billion cubic feet and generate power by alternative means.

"The energy savings generated by these projects means more money will be available for other municipal projects, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 450,000 tons -- the equivalent of removing nearly 75,000 passenger cars from our roads," the governor said.

The program is aimed at smaller Pennsylvania municipalities that would be otherwise ineligible for other grant money.

Rendell highlighted a program of replacing more than 4,000 traffic signals with more efficient models as a simple way to save energy and reduce emissions.

Other funding will help finance solar and wind power projects that could generate enough electricity to meet the energy demands of more than 1,400 homes per year.

"Federal recovery money is making it possible for Pennsylvanians to conserve energy to help meet our future energy needs," said Rendell.