New York gets solar powered Christmas tree

After Greenbang’s earlier Grinch-like rant about Christmas, it seems there’s still a little bit of environmental work going on in amongst all the zombie-like consumerism and Everest-like piles of non-recyclable wrapping that Greenbang will be wading through come Yule.

The Rockefeller Centre now has solar-powered Christmas tree lights. No, really, it does. You may be recalling that old joke about solar powered torches, so let the Mayor of New York explain it like this:

“The solar energy roof, which will be the largest privately owned solar energy generation station in Manhattan, will conserve energy during peak usage times year-round and help power the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree’s new energy-efficient LED lights. The Mayor and Tishman Speyer also announced the installation of a new green roof atop Radio City Music Hall that will minimize wastewater and cool the area, and an ice chiller plant to cool the entire complex and reduce energy consumption. Both will be completed in 2008.”

And if you fancy going down the Gotham route yourself (Greenbang doesn’t mean being rescued by Batman here) and getting your own solar Christmas lights, they’re doing the rounds here.