Can Offsetting Your Carbon Footprint Save Creation

1
Can Offsetting Your Carbon Footprint Save
Creation?

• Eric M. Carlson
• Executive Director
• Carbonfund.org

2
Overview

• About Carbonfund.org
• Climate Change
• Your Climate Impact
• Reduce What You Can
• Offset What You Can Not
• Green Power
• What We Really Do
• Our Vision
• What You Can Do

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About Carbonfund.org

• Started in 2003
• 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
• Founded by Lesley Eric Carlson
• Goals
• Educate people about the threat of climate change
• Promote reduce what you can, offset what you can
  not solutions to climate change
• Make it easy and affordable

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Climate Change Facts be worried be very
worried

• Yes, its happening
• 2005 warmest year on record
• 19 of 20 warmest years since 1980
• Greenland is melting 2.5 x faster
• Arctic may be on an irreversible melting
• CO2 concentrations at 650,000 year high
• 381ppm CO2 vs. avg. (1850 was 280)
• Atlantic Conveyor Belt
• And the Good News?

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Climate Change be worried be very worried

• If Greenland and Antarctica melt, well see a 250
  foot sea rise
• (scratch that, tilt, game over)
• Hundreds of millions displaced, Katrina x 100
• Countries disappear
• Foods supply problems, national security, etc.
• Russias Permafrost hold trillions/lbs CO2
• Hurricanes
• All consistent with the models of the last two
  decades, if not too conservative

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Climate Change and the US

• 5 of the worlds population
• 25 of CO2 emissions
• Nearly 33 of last 50 years of CO2 emissions
• US has not signed international treaties
  committing to reducing CO2
• Several states have (RGGI, RPS)
• 50 of US electricity from coal
• Creation is at a breaking point
• Species, fishing, forests, climate

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Climate Change Goals

• 50-70 reduction in CO2 levels to reduce
  long-term threat of climate change
• (we have already committed ourselves to some
  climate change)
• Globally, must be led by major emitters, and
  later by developing world
• WE CAN NOT AFFORD NOT TO ACT!

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Your Climate Impact

• Also called carbon footprint, climate footprint
• Avg. American is responsible for gt50,000 pounds
  of CO2 emissions annually
• About 140 lbs each day
• Power plants (50 from coal), heating oil and
  gas, gasoline, jet fuel
• Car, Home, Travel, Food, Clothes, iPods, (23 tons
  total)
• Ex. Car (11,000 lbs / 5 tons)
• Ex. Home, Car, Air (22,000 lbs /10 tons)
• We can reduce some
• But we can offset all of it!

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Imagine

• A world
• Without a dozen island nations
• Florida most of the worlds coastal area
• Without coral reefs
• Glaciers, Antarctica, Arctic ice
• Without skiing, snowballs, winter
• Where 100m must relocate
• With famine, mass desertification
• It being our fault
• This is the path we are on now.

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Reduce what you can

• Save Energy
• Home
• Insulation, programmable thermostats, windows,
  sealing, ducts, appliances (20-30 gains)
• Car
• Drive less, get an efficient car, car pool, keep
  it tuned, tires inflated, dont drive like a
  madman
• Plane
• Alternatives to flying WebEx
• Other
• Eat lower on the food chain, consume less,
  recycle, reduce, re-use, etc.
• Overall savings can be significant!

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Offset what you can not

• Can Anyone Reduce Their Climate Impact to Zero?
• Carbon Offsets
• Offsets empower you to reduce/ remove CO2 in one
  place for its emission in another (home, car)
• You pollute here, you reduce there
• Trees planted in Nepal reduce CO2 from St. Louis
• Global Warming CO2 is a global issue, not local
• Types of Carbon Offsets
• Renewable Energy (Green Power)
• wind, solar, landfill methane
• Efficiency industrial
• Reforestation - trees

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Offset what you can not II

• Offsets are measured in metric tons/CO2
• Green Power usually in kWh / MWH
• Each type has plusses and minuses
• Benefits
• Efficient way to reduce CO2, warming
• Cost effective, affordable
• Avg Person just 8.25/mo
• Effective

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Green Power

• Represents the environmental attributes of
  renewable energy
• Effectively the additional cost/ subsidy needed
  to make each kWh of renewable energy cost
  effective
• Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)

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What we really do

• Educate
• About climate change and affordable solutions
• Help indiv./biz understand their carbon footprint
• Offset
• Provide offset/green power solutions for
  individuals, companies, employees, events, etc.
• Donations offset a specific amount of CO2/kWH
• Support projects that reduce an equal amount
• Only highly certified, third party verified
  projects
• Outreach
• Inform others about our partners climate change
  actions
• Increase partners environmental profiles
• Encourage others

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Projects

• Renewable Energy
• Highmore Wind
• Weathersford Wind
• Elk River Wind
• Inland Biodigester
• Bishop Ranch Solar
• Efficiency
• CCX Credits
• Reforestation
• Sequoia
• Gallatin
• Ozark
• Six Rivers
• Mangrove Trees, India

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Some Groups Offsetting Their Footprint

• WebEx
• National Wildlife Federation
• Tourjet
• Working Assets
• Calvert Group
• Social Venture Network
• Goldman Environmental Foundation/Prize
• Ceres

• UUMFE UUAGA
• Presbyterian conference Environmental Defense
• Clean Air Coalition
• CSR Wire
• PHH Arval
• Factor Load
• and on and on

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Carbonfund.orgs Vision

• Make it easy and affordable for anyone to reduce
  their climate impact to ZERO
• Engage millions of people
• Provide a true bottom-up approach that no
  government or company can negate
• Reduce the cost of renewable energy
• Reduce carbon emissions globally to save this
  little blue speck

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Can we solve the problem?

• One Solution Wind Power
• The Goal
• Renewable energy costs the same as coal, oil and
  natural gas (plug-in hybrids)
• Wind currently costs about .005 kWh (half a
  cent), or 6-8, more than dirty energy
• Wind is only .5 of total electricity
• Consider the impact of doubling, quadrupling
• How to do this
• We need about 2.0m supporters
• US pop 300m
• This is solvable!

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What you can do

• Educate yourself about climate change, quickly
• Develop a plan to reduce and offset and your CO2
  emissions
• Tell as many people as you can
• Work
• Family
• Friends
• Time is no longer our friend

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Your Congregation

• Develop a carbon reduction and offset program for
  your congregation
• Reduce what you can
• Offset the rest
• Encourage your membership
• Keep the program simple
• Be active in the community

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Can Carbon Offsets Save Creation?

• A small percentage of people reducing their
  climate impact to Zero will
• Reduce the cost of clean, renewable energy below
  coal
• Change energy investment globally
• Create a CO2 ceiling and perpetual downward slide
  in CO2 emissions
• Zero Carbon living is possible for everyone NOW!
• Together we can Save Creation!

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Conclusion

• Climate change is real dire
• The time for action is now
• Every day you do not act, 50 of our electricity
  comes from coal
• Solutions are available
• They are Easy Affordable
• Carbonfund.org can help
• Consider your kids, faith, legacy