After the Phoenix Suns NBA basketball team announced last week that they were installing solar panels as part of a new green initiative, now things only seem to be getting better for the environment when it comes to the efforts of professional sports teams.

The Philadelphia Eagles NFL football team announced on Sunday that they have paid a company for enough wind power to cover their energy needs for this year as part of their ongoing “Go Green” initiative. These needs include powering their stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, and also their training complex. The Eagles claim that they are the first team in the NFL to obtain all of their energy from a sustainable source (and we aren’t talking about Campbell’s Chunky Soup).

Jeffrey Lurie, the owner of the Eagles was quoted as saying, “Since 2003, when we launched ‘Go Green,’ the Eagles have made it a very, very top priority of our organization, and our football team … to lead the way as best we can, set a good example — in the corporate world and in the sports world ‚ of what you can do to be responsible with the environment.”

Prior to their recent purchase of wind power, the Eagles have had considerable success reducing their energy consumption. Since they started their “Go Green” program, they have lowered their energy use by approximately 30%. Earlier this year the team also helped pay for and plant more than 1500 trees and shrubs on a 6.5 acre parcel of land in Pennsylvania’s Neshaminy State Park. The new area is known as the “Eagles Forest” and is estimated to serve as an equivalent offset for the carbon emissions produced when the team travels to their away games.

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