On the Ball: Swiftly running out of good sports headlines

Sports continue to 'go green'

Posted by Sarah K. Burkhalter at 11:48 AM on 04 Apr 2008

It's everyone's favorite time: sports roundup time! And our sport-by-sport structure worked so well last time, perhaps we should try it again.

Basketball: Three of the four teams in the NCAA Final Four -- UCLA, North Carolina, and Memphis -- are signatories to the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. Get with the program, Kansas!

Golf: Thirty-four Marriott golf courses will become Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuaries by the end of 2008.

Baseball: Japan's professional baseball league is aiming to reduce carbon emissions by, um, shortening games by 12 minutes. PETA, not pacified (are they ever?), is urging Japanese stadium vendors to go vegetarian. But what fun's a baseball game without fried octopus balls?

Meanwhile, the Houston Astros are going ... going ... green! And so is the Washington Nationals' new ballpark.

~~Soccer~~ Football: Manchester City Football Stadium's plan to generate its own electricity with a turbine has been delayed over a "risk of ice forming on the huge blades and falling to the ground."

Beijing 2008: The Olympic Torch relay "will focus on environmental sustainability and the roles people can play in improving the quality of life in their communities," and local environmental champions have been selected as torch-bearers. But a new study is concerned that China's economic boom and gathering of the nations for the Olympics will lead to an invasion of nonnative species.

Multi-sport: Denver's Pepsi Center -- home to Colorado's pro basketball, hockey, lacrosse, and arena football teams, not to mention the upcoming Democratic National Convention -- has "gone green" (I am really growing to hate that phrase), reducing its annual energy consumption by 40,000 kilowatt hours.

Good game, everyone. *Shaking hands, patting on back*

For story: On the Ball: Swiftly running out of good sports headlines
2 Comments | Post a Comment

Less brown does not equal green

To quote an ex-President, "Give me a break." Ballparks that provide parking for fossil-fool powered wheelchairs are definitely not green. Did anyone notice the calculation of the carbon footprint of a typical football match in England that was published two years ago? Another big brownie. Interestingly, aside from transportation the largest contributer was meat; PETA is clearly on the right track. Golf courses? No mention of banning all herbicides so I guess the fish are still going belly-up. Also, I have never seen another person show up at a golf course without a steel wheelchair. I really am tired of all of the greenwash.

by human power at 9:46 PM on 04 Apr 2008

That was a good headline. Hopefully not the last

Sports are a great way to get the word out. Although they may not be accomplishing much if anything in the way of meaningful carbon reductions, they are spreading a meme and it is sinking in.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 8:34 AM on 05 Apr 2008

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