City in Riverside County Goes Solar to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published April 26, 2007 at 2:07 PM PDT

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

In Riverside County, one city is reducing greenhouse gas emissions by using solar power. As KPBS reporter Ed Joyce tells us, the energy savings are expected to pay for the project.

In Riverside County, one city is reducing greenhouse gas emissions by using solar power. As KPBS reporter Ed Joyce tells us, the energy savings are expected to pay for the project.

The city of Perris is embarking on a plan to tap into the sun's energy to save money. A solar project is expected to cover about 20 percent of the city's electricity needs. Honeywell International will install solar panels on new carport roofs at the city hall, library, and three other locations.

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Perris City Councilman Mark Yarbrough : Just this system alone that's being incorporated into our city is reducing the amount of the greenhouse gas emissions that the city produces by more than 50-percent.

He says that means the city is cutting its carbon dioxide emissions by nearly one-million pounds -- the same as removing about 90 cars off the road. And he says city taxpayers won't have to pay for the program. The energy savings will cover the cost.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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