Philly goes green with LED traffic signals

The City of Philadelphia has given the green light (in more ways than one) to an earth-friendly move to replace its current incandescent traffic lights with more energy-efficient LEDs.

And this project is not costing the city a dime. In fact, it will save the city money, as the Philadelphia Inquirer explains:

Half of the $6 million for the project came from a federal Department of Energy grant, the other half from Peco Energy. The lights are expected to conserve enough energy to power 700 homes and save the city $1 million a year in electric costs.

Reducing our energy usage is a good thing, and I applaud the news.

In addition, though, we need to work harder on developing alternative energy sources. Peco and other power companies worldwide need to move away from coal, gas, and nuclear, and focus instead on cleaner and safer energy sources, like wind and solar. It's 2010. There is no time to waste.