Local Event to Feature Carbon Footprint Calculations, Earth-conscious Marketplace

Beaumont, Texas – A footprint used to be what your kids left on the kitchen floor. Or maybe it was what police used to track a thief. Now, add the word “carbon” and your footprint figures into one of today’s biggest issues.

For Southeast Texans interested in finding out what the fuss is all about, Entergy Texas, Inc., and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change are joining forces to launch a new program, “Make an Impact.” The launch is set for 2-4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the John Gray Center on the Lamar University campus. Make an Impact is designed to give Entergy Texas customers, the community and its employees the knowledge and tools to reduce personal energy use, save money and make a difference in the fight against climate change.

Speakers for the event include Jennifer Denney, Make an Impact program manager from the Pew Center; Dr. Jim Westgate, Lamar’s university professor of Earth and Space Sciences; and Michael Hoke, managing director of the Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center in Orange.

A highlight of the Make an Impact launch will feature Joe Domino, president and chief executive officer, Entergy Texas, Inc. Domino will lend his own carbon footprint to a workshop session in which he and Denney will use a Web-based calculator to determine his personal impact on the environment.

Additionally, those attending will have the opportunity to browse through an Earth-friendly marketplace featuring displays from a number of local organizations and groups. The marketplace will include the following organizations:

• Jefferson County AgriLife Extension Office.

• South East Texas Regional Planning Commission ‘Go Green’ initiative.

• Texas Recyclers of Port Arthur.

• Solar-Bright Star Solutions of Sour Lake.

• Free Lighting of Houston, a company that performs energy efficiency work such as weatherization and duct sealing.

• Clear Results of Houston, an energy efficiency consultant for schools and businesses.

• Hardin Fuels, a Hardin County-based company that produces bio-diesel fuel.

• City of Kountze recycling initiative, a program to separate waste into re-usable categories.

• Entergy Texas, which will present a variety of information about energy saving programs and opportunities for customers.

Entergy Texas will also have on hand the latest addition to its fleet – a hybrid bucket truck that includes a 340-volt Lithium Ion battery capable of operating the truck’s boom and providing energy for driving up to 30 miles per hour.

Refreshments and prizes will also be available.

For more information contact Entergy Texas’ Beaumont-area customer service manager, Sam Bethea at 409-981-3824.

Entergy Texas, Inc. provides electricity to 400,000 customers in 27 counties. It is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Entergy is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $13 billion and approximately 14,700 employees.

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change was established in 1998 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan and independent organization dedicated to providing credible information, straight answers and innovative solutions in the effort to address global climate change. The center engages decision-makers at the federal, state, regional and international levels to achieve its goals for mandatory federal climate change policy and a post-2012 international climate agreement. The center’s Business Environmental Leadership Council, a group of 44 mainly Fortune 500 companies with more than $2 trillion in combined revenue and employing more than 4 million people, is the largest U.S.-based association of corporations committed to advancing mandatory policy and business solutions to address climate change. The Pew Center is also a founding member of the influential U.S. Climate Action Partnership.

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Entergy Texas’ online address is entergy-texas.com
The Pew Center on Global Climate Change may be reached at pewclimate.org
Visit the Make an Impact Web site at: entergy.com/makeanimpact