Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) is STILL the only U.S. wireless carrier to be named among the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) national top 50 Green Power Partners list. Sprint’s wind-power purchase helped the company secure its No. 19 ranking on the EPA’s Fortune 500® green power partner list.

“We are proud to again be the only wireless communications company named on the EPA’s Green Power Partners list,” said Gene Agee, Sprint Vice President, Procurement & Real Estate. “Our long-term goal, which we announced in 2008, is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent and increase our use of renewable energy to 10 percent by 2017. While we are pleased with the significant progress we have made toward reaching this target, we continue to explore opportunities to implement new and better ways to reduce our use of non-renewable resources and our overall carbon footprint.”

Sprint leads the U.S. telecommunications industry in terms of actual renewable energy in use, incorporating such alternative energy solutions as wind, solar, hydrogen fuel cells and geothermal power across business operations. Wind power provides more than 90 percent of the total electric energy needs for Sprint’s headquarters campus in Overland Park, Kan. Sprint’s wind power purchase prevented approximately 87,519 metric tons of CO₂ equivalents in 2009, which is equal to:

Taking 15,181 passenger cars off of the road for one year,
Consuming 184,642 fewer barrels of oil per year, or
The electricity used to power 9,685 households each year.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Power Partners list names the top 50 partner organizations that are using the most renewable electricity to help reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and protect people’s health. The EPA considers “green power” as generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydropower. According to the EPA, purchases of green power help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants that threaten Americans’ health, and help accelerate the nation’s voluntary green power market.

Sprint’s leadership in environmental sustainability continues to receive recognition. For the second year in a row, Sprint ranked highest among all U.S. telecom companies on Newsweek’s 2010 Rankings of America’s Greenest Companies at No. 6, up from No. 15 in 2009. Sprint was also ranked highest among the wireless carrier industry on the Carbon Disclosure Project’s “Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index.”

For more information on Sprint’s commitment to renewable energy solutions, visit http://www.sprint.com/responsibility/environment/climate.html.

To learn more about Sprint programs that protect the environment, go to http://www.sprint.com/responsibility or follow @SprintGreenNews on Twitter.