Energy Kills. Energy Cures

(CSRwire) September 6, 2007 -

The Energy Cures Campaign, a grassroots social and environmental call-to-action, launches across the world motivating people to stop the inherent cycle between poverty, dirty energy and its drastic affect on the environment. Providing a simple platform to support the renewable energy efforts of developing countries, EnergyCures.org creates an opportunity to get involved with a solution that benefits both people and the planet. By advancing the accessibility of modern energy solutions for the world's impoverished, Energy Cures breaks the cycle of poverty and diminishes dirty energy's contamination of both the environment and global economies.

Public support and awareness is vital in reducing dirty energy's devastating impact on the planet and resulting social implications. The Energy Cures Campaign serves as the clearinghouse to become educated on the issues, connected to the real stories and involved in the global action. By visiting EnergyCures.org, people make tax-deductible contributions directly financing entrepreneurial efforts of poverty-stricken nations and their quest to establish clean, renewable energy sources. By financing entrepreneurs around the globe working to make their communities safer and more sustainable places to live, the progression of invested projects has astounding benefits for the local health and economy, as well as the global environment.

Worldwide, 1.6 billion people are without any access to electricity, with an additional 2.4 billion people subjected to rely on dirty fuels for every day use. Typically, dirty energy sources are all that is accessible to impoverished nations. Releasing dangerous particles into the atmosphere, not only does the consumption of this energy have a negative environmental and health impact, there is a significant social-economic one as well.

"Statistics show that if a child stays home to collect firewood for cooking, instead of going to school, it is most likely their child will also be forced into a similar reality," says Gina Rodolico of Energy Cures and Director of Communication for E+Co, the non-profit organization and catalyst behind the Campaign. "And if this child's mother spends four hours of every day hauling water for her family's daily use, the chances for escaping poverty practically vanish. But by investing in local, clean energy entrepreneurs and their businesses, we can develop a sustainable solution to multiple challenges."

The Energy Cures Campaign is a special initiative spearheaded by E+Co, a non-profit financial services organization. Over the past 13 years, E+Co has proven that it is possible to invest in local businesses that develop and deliver modern, clean energy in villages and cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America that allows for economic development, protects the planet and helps people escape the cycle of poverty.

Since its inception, E+Co has mobilized over $157 million, provided modern energy to over 3.6 million people, supported almost 3,000 jobs and offset 2.2 million tons of CO2. Through Energy Cures, a goal to generate an additional $50,000 has been established to strengthen the efforts of further developing the supply chain for modern energy sources.

As a grassroots movement to support clean energy advancement across the globe, the public's direct involvement is crucial to the overall impact of this initiative. By visiting EnergyCures.org, real life stories and projects of the entrepreneurs illustrate how individual support has a tremendous impact on community. For instance, a tax-deductible donation of $8.33/month (a total year contribution of $100) equals the cost of five clean, efficient cookstoves in Tanzania. An E+Co-supported enterprise, Toyola, distributes these $20 cookstoves to local families. Not only is the local entrepreneur establishing a revenue stream, with use of a cookstove each of the five families save $35 annually in fuel costs. A savings of $35 per family is a significant impact for a country with a per capita GDP of $610.

The Energy Cures Campaign seeks to end world poverty while protecting the planet. Believing that market-driven businesses are a solution to meeting the energy needs of over 2 billion people in an environmentally-conscious way, Energy Cures establishes sustainable communities, stimulates impoverished economies, and preserves environmental resources. For more information and to become involved, visit EnergyCures.org.

CSRwire

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