Lung association, Chesapeake team up for clean air initiative
The Journal Record
December 11, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY – Cloudy skies and freezing rain wasn’t enough to stop the announcement of an initiative on Monday designed to encourage the promotion of clean air in homes, businesses and communities.Oklahoma businesses and individuals will be encouraged to participate in the next few months as part of the Clean Air Initiative, which was announced as a partnership between the American Lung Association of the Central States and Chesapeake Energy Corp.

Tom Price Jr., senior vice president for corporate development at Chesapeake, presented a check for $500,000 for the initiative, which will include a public awareness campaign focused on voluntary pollution reduction.

Price said he was hopeful that other companies would follow Chesapeake’s lead and participate in the program in an effort to improve the quality of life for Oklahomans.“The end result, I’m hopeful, will be clean air and healthy living,” Price said.

The nation’s third-largest producer of clean-burning natural gas, Chesapeake has been proactive in encouraging health improvements for their employees. Price said a health facility containing workout equipment, a basketball court, and other athletic sites, has been available at the Chesapeake campus for the past three years.Chesapeake’s employees who are smokers pay a higher-premium insurance rate at the self-insured company, and the campus itself is smoke-free. However, those employees who participate in the company’s health program are able to accumulate points for working out and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, which is rewarded through cash bonuses.

Sara Dreiling, CEO for the American Lung Association of the Central States, said the goal of the initiative is to promote sustainable clean air practices. She said it was especially important given the increasing health problems in Oklahoma.“Not having clean air is a growing problem in Oklahoma,” Dreiling said.

The initiative will include the launch of a Web site in February 2008 in which businesses will be encouraged to sign up and pass on information to their employees about the benefits of the clean air initiatives.

Among the concepts being promoted are for people to change their air filters regularly and for businesses to provide smoke-free environments.

The donation by Chesapeake will serve as a challenge match. The company is willing to match any donation dollar-for-dollar to encourage participation.