The only thing green about the new Yankee Stadium and the Mets new Citi Field is the truckloads of taxpayer cash that went into their construction.  Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration — Citi Field is said to have been constructed with recycled steel and a concrete mix that included coal ash, and also has waterless toilets and some energy efficient cooking equipment. Over at Yankee Stadium, they boast water-saving plumbing and beverages sold in biodegradable cups.  But, I’d have to say those token nods to ‘green’ won’t go far to offset the 20 megawatts of power the two new sports emporiums suck up at peak power.  That’s 20,000 homes worth of power and twice what the old Yankee and Shea stadiums were capable of consuming.

Just a thought — perhaps New York City’s Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who loves to mandate green innovations like hybrid taxis and such, should have evaluated the green quotients of the new mega-stadiums before playing ball with the billionaire owners of New York’s privately held baseball franchises.  Oh, just so the Yanks and Mets needn’t have to worry about bloated Con Ed bills, the teams are also the beneficiaries of low cost electricity, a break many of us lowly taxpayers could use right about now.

I guess you need a plethora of energy intensive bells and whistles to justify skyrocketing ticket prices.  I can remember when fans went to the ballpark to watch the game on the field not stare at a frighteningly over-sized, 6,000 square foot HD video screen.  Add a bunch of elevators and escalators to speed fans to the over-priced concession stands and you’ve got a state of the art corporate entertainment experience.

One more thing.  How did the lowly Washington Nationals get a Silver Rating from the Green Building Council when they constructed their new Nationals Park in D.C.?  Nationals Park actually uses 15% less energy than the old RFK Stadium.

additional source: ny post