Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s work to reduce the carbon footprint of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner made national headlines this month. The piece, titled “Obama, Leno and a Low-Carbon Menu” can be found in the New York Times Green Blog.
The black-tie dinner was held May 1. President Obama and Jay Leno provided some of the night’s entertainment.
Here’s a link to their speeches:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYsGwLWqWI4&feature=player_embedded
“This will be the most eco-friendly dinner ever hosted by the association,” said Edwin Chen, president of the (correspondents association) and a White House correspondent for Bloomberg News.
The association is purchasing 62 metric tons of offsets for the event, equivalent to the carbon that will be emitted by the 2,600 attendees traveling to the event, including President Obama’s 1.6-mile motorcade ride from the White House and Leno’s flight from California. This is the first time in its 96-year history that organizers have committed to reducing the carbon footprint of the event, and the first time the presidential motorcade is being offset.