Sustainability investments focused on community resilience: $10 increase to the ‘Green Fee’ establishes Carbon Management Fund</h1> <article> <h1>Sustainability investments focused on community resilience: $10 increase to the ‘Green Fee’ establishes Carbon Management Fund</h1> <p>2014-03-24T18:24:51+00:00</p> <p dir="ltr">The Carbon Management Fund (CMF) was started in the Fall of 2012 in response to a student referendum supporting the addition of a $10 term bill line item to fund carbon offsetting projects. This term bill line item was approved by Student Senate in February 2014 as an increase to the ‘Green Fee’ and was also recently approved by the Board of Trustees in this year’s March meeting. The fee increase will generate ~$25,000 a year for local carbon offsetting projects effective FY15.</p> <p dir="ltr">Oberlin College has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2025 through the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), and to become climate positive by 2050 through the Clinton Foundation: Climate Positive Development Program (CPDP). This means that as an institution the College’s effect on global atmospheric green house gas levels (GHGs) must be zero or actively improving atmospheric GHG levels. As we stand now, 11 years from our 2025 carbon neutral date, our future estimated annual carbon footprint is ~7,000 metric tons of CO2 or equivalent green house gasses (mtCO2e), down from ~40,000 mtCO2e currently. These expected emissions will result from our continued reliance on natural gas for heating buildings and fossil fuels for transportation. The projected emissions footprint in 2025 will prevent us from achieving carbon neutrality and fulfilling our commitment, unless we gather offsets in line with these commitments.</p> <p dir="ltr">The <a href="http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/node/7380">ACUPCC Voluntary Carbon Offsets Protocol</a> urges that offset “[p]rojects should also have other social and environmental co-benefits in addition to reducing emissions, and add value to the education, research, and service missions of higher education.” From the <a href="http://climatepositivedevelopment.org/download/attachments/294975/ClimatePositiveFramework+v1.0+2011+.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1331574106709">Climate Positive Framework</a>: “Development Partners will not be able to earn Climate Positive credits through the purchase of external carbon offsets. Instead, credits represent an opportunity for Development Partners to make measurable improvements to their greater municipal landscapes and/or regions.”</p> <p dir="ltr">CMF provides a needed solution to achieve carbon neutrality in line with our commitments while ensuring these investments remain within the larger Oberlin community and impact local farmers and homeowners. Without CMF and its investment in local carbon offsetting projects, the College would likely still achieve carbon neutrality through the purchase of carbon offsets on global voluntary markets. This “business as usual” scenario would most likely support massive renewable energy projects or the protection of standing forest somewhere in the world – wonderful projects, but isn’t it a better outcome to increase the resilience of our community, and impact local farmers and Oberlin homeowners as we work towards sustainability goals? Through local offsets we can maintain a connection to our investments, providing research opportunities for students and benefits for our neighbors.</p> <p dir="ltr">If carbon offsets are purchased on the open market, Oberlin College may claim carbon neutrality, but it will not be in line with the ACUPCC recommendation, nor the CPDP carbon offset framework. Thus, this emissions gap (~7,000 mtCO2e), must be offset in accordance with the frameworks of our commitments. Below are the local pilot projects of CMF:</p> <p dir="ltr"></p> <p dir="ltr">The cost to unlock these projects is not the entire cost of the project, rather funding acquired through the term bill line item will be allocated proportional to the amount of atmospheric GHGs reduced, on an annual basis for a contracted period of time, and only when project additionality and permanence can be proven. CMF will utilize the Green EDGE Fund’s financial structure and student approval process, to make funding allocation decisions: maintaining student control over this money and ensuring broad access to funding. The US Environmental Protection Agency and White House Office of Management and Budget have established a social cost of carbon equivalent to $37/mtCO2e for 2015. This price is not fixed, but rather as the dangers of climate change increase into the future, the price per ton increases responsively. The price CMF chooses will be closely informed by this social cost. The total cost of these carbon offset projects will be the number of mtCO2e needed to be offset, multiplied by the price that is decided per mtCO2e.</p> <p dir="ltr">As this program progresses and establishes itself within Oberlin College we would like to encourage your input into this process. A website is currently under construction that will act as an information hub for CMF once finalized. If you are interested in getting involved in any way or discussing any aspect of this program please contact the current Carbon Management Fellow, Tani Colbert-Sangree at <a href="mailto:<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ed998e82818f889f999e8c838a9f8888ad828f889f8184839d9f8287888e99c3829f8a">[email protected]</a>."><a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4a3e292526282f383e392b242d382f2f0a25282f382623243a3825202f293e6425382d">[email protected]</a>.</a></p> </article> <article> <h1>What is the Best Way to Reforest?</h1> <p>2014-02-11T14:15:04+00:00</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Written by Machmud Machmudov, edited by Tani Colbert-Sangree</strong></p> <p><span class="wf_caption" style="margin: 3px; float: left; display: inline-table;"><strong><span style="text-align: center; display: block;">A White Oak Sapling</span></strong></span>On October 26th, the Carbon Management Fund implemented its first project of the '13-'14 school year, taking another step towards carbon neutrality for Oberlin College, but with a new, innovative approach to tree planting. The College Grounds Crew, with assistance from student volunteers, planted 8 red oak trees and 8 white oak trees across 18 acres of formerly agricultural fields next to the north campus intramural and club sports fields and north of the 2.27 megawatt solar array. The trees were funded by a grant from the Green EDGE Fund and are part of a larger plan to naturally return this land to forest.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The project followed a similar tree-planting event, in which 100 trees were planted on April 27th, 2013 in a concentrated 1-2 acre area adjacent to the fields planted with 16 oak trees. Both the fall and spring plantings aimed to reforest the former agricultural fields, but the more recent fall planting will accomplish this afforestation in a more natural and cost-effective manner. Instead of planting 100 trees in the space of about an acre, completely transforming a section of field as had been done in April, this time we would let the majority of the work be done by nature.</p> <p>Walking through these fields you can notice small trees have started to pop up, these are the product of seeds blown into these fields from the adjacent forest. Our October 26th planting is supplemental to that natural ongoing process of succession as seeds fly in and begin to grow. Our addition of white and red oak, will increase the biodiversity of the new forest as these species would not otherwise find themselves in the open fields due to the weight of their seed. Squirrels, as quintessential acorn lovers, hoarders and buriers, are the primary method for oak seed transportation when they forget the location of a nutty morsel. However, open fields pose a big threat to squirrels and reduce the likelihood of this method for seed transport. Birds of prey would like nothing better than to see a bushy tail high in the air as the unsuspecting squirrel searched for or buried its nuts out in the open. Squirrels will not take the risk of traversing the open field, and for our purposes cannot be relied upon to add those heavier nut species to the area until cover is provided 10-15 years down the road. By planting oak trees and placing them in the middle of these fields we are ensuring the existence of species that natural processes would not otherwise include in the early stages of forest growth, creating a more bio-diverse and resilient forest long-term.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>Pictured: April 2013 planting and adjacent forest.</strong></em></p> <p>In past tree plantings, The Carbon Management Fund has touted the number of tons of carbon sequestered by the individual trees planted, 26 trees planted in Tappan Square will sequester ~183 tons of CO2 over their lifetime, but this project has changed the focus to more fully account for the carbon accumulated by an area of forest in total. The forest adjacent to the former agricultural fields was the site of a recent study by Claire Hoffman ‘15, Annika Nelson ‘15 and Griff Radulski ‘14, students in John Petersen's Systems Ecology class. These students measured the 45-acre forest’s current carbon stock to ~4,450 metric tons of carbon, the equivalent of ~16,317 metric tons of CO2 removed from the atmosphere. The forest area studied by Hoffman, Nelson and Radulski is estimated at 55 years old and accumulation rates are increasing each year. Allowing these additional 18 acres to naturally become forested will sequester carbon similar to the adjacent forest over its lifetime. If this new section of forest performs similar to that of the adjacent forest, in 55 years these 18 acres will have sequestered and removed 6,527 metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. Comparing how our concentrated tree planting from April 2013 accumulates carbon, to our more recent October 2013 tree planting will be the subject of future research to inform afforestation (the process allowing land to become forest) efforts in Oberlin and beyond.</p> <p>This project represents one of many efforts being taken around the world to reforest land. The Carbon Management Fund is proud to support and will continue to push for similar efforts to make Oberlin carbon neutral by 2025, while striving to be a model for similar communities around the world.</p> </article> </main></body></html>