Cleveland Carbon Fund: Thinking Globally, Greening Locally
Responding to increasing concerns about the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming, a number of services have developed to offer people options for reducing their impact on the planet. You can make donations, for instance, to reduce your carbon emissions from driving, flying or heating your house.
But it’s often hard to know where those donations are going. They might help protect trees that sequester carbon in the rainforest or pay farmers in Nebraska to practice tillage methods that increase carbon in soil. It’s likely that more people would donate to reduce carbon emissions if they could see their donations being invested in their own community for visible improvements that not only protect the climate but create green jobs in the local economy.
That’s the idea behind the Cleveland Carbon Fund, the first community-based, open-access carbon reduction fund in the U.S. Anyone can make a voluntary donation to the fund, and the money will support carbon reduction projects in the Cleveland area. Initial projects are expected to include large-scale compact fluorescent light bulb replacement, tree planting and home weatherization.
“This is an innovative way to produce positive changes in our own backyard,” says John Mitterholzer, senior program officer at The George Gund Foundation, one of the founding partners of the fund.
Other founding partners include The Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland Clinic, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History and City of Cleveland. Donations to the fund are held by The Cleveland Foundation and are tax-deductible.
A steering committee of representatives from the partners will distribute the funds as grants to nonprofit organizations. Proposals will be evaluated based on the amount of verifiable carbon reduction achieved, cost, social and economic benefits, and other criteria. All projects will need to demonstrate that the carbon reductions would not have happened but for the project.
The Carbon Fund is working with the GreenCityBlueLake Institute and potential grantees to calculate and validate the expected carbon reduction from each proposed project. These CO2 estimates will follow the best available greenhouse gas accounting principles and all calculations will be made as transparent as possible. In fact, one of the goals of the fund is to equip local non-profit organizations with the tools to accurately calculate the carbon reduction benefits of their projects.
For several reasons the Cleveland Carbon Fund is different than conventional “carbon offset” programs. The geographical focus is unusual. And, to reduce administrative fees, the fund initially has chosen not to certify and retire the carbon emissions reductions that result from the funded projects. Thus, donors will not get credit for participating in official carbon markets, such as the Chicago Climate Exchange, which are expected to develop as a result of federal climate change legislation. They will, however, contribute to real environmental, social and economic benefits.
“This is one more way that Cleveland is supporting the advancement of green collar jobs. The Cleveland Carbon Fund supports the local economy while helping to reduce our region’s carbon footprint,” says Andrew Watterson, program director for Cleveland’s Office of Sustainability.
It’s important to emphasize that making a donation to a carbon reduction fund should be a last resort. First, you should do everything possible to reduce carbon emissions yourself—such as by wasting less energy, driving less and eating a more vegetarian diet. But for the remaining carbon footprint you can’t eliminate, the Cleveland Carbon Fund provides a great way to get closer to carbon neutral or have a zero carbon footprint.
Science is telling us that climate change from the burning of carbon-based fossil fuels poses a grave threat to the stability of human civilization and to the survival millions of other species. We all have a responsibility to act.
To calculate your carbon emissions and donate to the Cleveland Carbon Fund, go to www.clevelandcarbonfund.org.
Help stop global warming and climate change by reducing your carbon emissions. Donate to the Cleveland Carbon Fund at www.clevelandcarbonfund.org.