New York counties establish carbon credit program
Washington may be generating more hot air than substance just yet about climate change, but in New York, counties aren’t waiting for a federal solution.
The New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) has launched a carbon credit program for counties, the first of its kind in the nation. The new program, dubbed the Avoided Deforestation Carbon Credit Program, will reward New York counties for controlling carbon emissions in their communities.
It is the second level of a three-tiered Renewable Energy Portfolio developed by the association in response to member requests for programs to deal with renewable energy. “We’re confident that it’s a novel, innovative program here — very progressive,” said NYSAC Executive Director Stephen Acquario. It is designed to curb greenhouse carbon pollution, considered by many to be the leading cause of global warming.
Carbon credits are a measure of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that have been reduced or avoided, and are certified and registered under the various cap and trade programs. Carbon credits can be sold or traded on exchanges such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
NYSAC’s Carbon Credit program would issue carbon credits to counties that choose to reduce the release of carbon into the atmosphere by preventing deforestation or the removal of vegetation for the sake of development.
“We think there’s a lot of applicability out there with forest preserves and rangelands that are county-owned and forever wild,” Acquario said.
NYSAC’s venture will be rolled out in two stages. In stage one, the association will survey counties for land parcels that hold the highest value of carbon credits, or highest potential revenue. Environmental Capital LLC, a financial consulting firm specializing in environmental assets and NYSAC partner, will evaluate the parcels for their value. The evaluation is known in the trade as a “carbon stock analysis.” The initial survey is expected to take 60 days.
Acquario said they would be using U.S.-developed standards to assess the parcels, not measurements from the Kyoto Protocol.
The most valuable parcels are those that have been “saved from the bulldozer,” said Denise Farrell with Environmental Capital LLC. They rate higher on risk-conversion protocols.
Stage two, which Farrell expects to be completed in the second quarter of 2010, would identify the appropriate registry on which to list carbon credits generated from the avoided deforestation and rangeland projects. The identified parcels would be listed on the registry and the carbon credits offered for sale at a verifiable value to potential carbon credit buyers.
“This novel pollution control program, designed by county leaders for local governments across the state, will both protect and preserve our natural treasures — our forests, rangelands and atmosphere by reducing global warming — and provide a structured program to reward governments for their pollution control-efforts,” Acquario said.
There would be no upfront fees to participate in the program. Any fees would be contingent upon the sale of a county’s credits.
The Oct. 2 announcement came on the heels of the introduction of “Cap and Trade” legislation in the U.S. Senate, where the issue has been under considerable debate.
“Limiting greenhouse gas pollution must be addressed if we are to confront the growing effects of global warming,” said NYSAC President Thomas J. Santulli, Chemung County executive.
NYSAC sees its counties leading the way.
Capturing Methane from Landfills also Profits County
Environmental Capital has already worked with a number of New York counties on methane capture from their landfills. Stopping methane from escaping into the atmosphere either by burning or by diverting it as energy for other uses, earns ERTs ((Emission Reduction Tons) for a county, which can then be traded on registries such as the Chicago Climate Exchange.
In November 2008, Steuben County, N.Y. sold 400,000 present and future ERTs from its methane capture to Google, the giant Internet company, which is embarked on the goal of a “carbon neutral” footprint for its operations.
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