Live Earth, Philips lighting team up

Los Angeles -- Los Angeles-based Live Earth and Royal Philips Electronic Tuesday announced a global partnership to combat global warming.

The partnership enables Philips to join Live Earth July 7, when a global concert from seven sites will seek to raise awareness and provide education on global warming and climate change, the lighting supplier said in a news release.

Philips officials said the company already works with the lighting industry, non-government organizations, energy suppliers, governments and retailers to urge switching to energy-saving lighting in streets, offices, buildings and homes.

Theo van Deursen, Philips Lighting's chief executive officer, said with new lighting technology available today, "savings of up to $143 billion on energy costs are possible, reducing CO2 output by 592 million tons per year."

He said that equates to up to 1,560 million barrels of oil annually.

Noting that Live Earth seeks to engage a global audience with solutions to the climate crisis, Kevin Wall, Live Earth founder and producer, said Philips is a "valuable partner for us in showing that some solutions that help reduce our energy consumption are easy, simple and accessible to almost every individual around the globe."

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.