Schools get high marks with clean-air credits
Copyright 2000, Environmental News Network
Monday, June 26, 2000
By Robinson Sahw
Schools across the country are teaching students how to conserve energy and earn emissions credits in a special program designed to reduce greenhouse gases.
School is out for the summer at James G. Birney Elementary in inner-city Washington, D.C., and the report card just arrived: Students at the school prevented $10,000 in environmental damage from sulphur dioxide.
How did they do it? Like many other public schools across the United States, Birney Elementary is helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions by buying and retiring emissions credits.
With the help of a local law firm and the Clean Air Conservancy, the students learned about energy use and raised enough money to buy and retire 10 emissions credits, the equivalent of 10 tons of sulfur dioxide that would have been pumped into the atmosphere.
"This was the type of school that thought the environment was pretty minor. The students are concerned with other issues like staying alive and having enough food to eat," said Kevin Snape, executive director of the conservancy. "Because these kids come from such modest means, they probably didn't think about conserving energy before."
Buying and retiring emission credits is a way to prevent pollutants from being released into the atmosphere. It's also an effective educational resource.
"It's credible and real to the students," said Snape. "It makes the environment and environmentalism real to them."
"Every time a donor gives us $150, we can buy a ton of sulfur dioxide and prevent $4,000 worth of environmental damage," Snape added.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates sulfur dioxide emissions of 800 companies. Based on previous emissions, the companies receive an annual allotment of allowances. Each allowance equals one ton of pollution. The total number of allowances is reduced each year to reduce pollution in the atmosphere.
Companies usually gain credits when they voluntarily reduce emissions below required levels. These allowances can be bought and sold.
The conservancy buys the credits on the open market or at the EPA's annual sulfur dioxide emission auction. In so doing, pollutants that might end up in the atmosphere are put out of commission.
So far, the conservancy has bought and retired 1,350 sulfur dioxide credits, reducing the amount of pollution by 1,350 tons.
Emissions-credit programs teach students the link between reducing energy
costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. One such program is part of the
community energy division of the nonprofit Center for Neighborhood Technology.
Through the Great Lakes Energy Network, the CNT is helping schools in the Great
Lakes area reduce their energy consumption.
"We recognize public schools as a natural aggregate," said Jane
Clougherty, program manager for the Great Lakes project. "There
are an average of 90 buildings with one utility bill. Schools spend a lot of
money on electricity and other energy uses. They are a
public entity people are concerned about."
GLEN is working with all 80 public schools in Buffalo, New York in the hope of
reducing their energy consumption by 25 percent, which would pull 20 tons of
sulfur dioxide, 12 tons of nitrogen oxide and 4,659 tons of carbon dioxide out
of the air and save the schools $1.2 million in energy bills, said Clougherty.
The CNT recently used the Environmental Action Desk at Natsource to purchase
emission credits that CNT will give away as gifts.
"We've received increasing interest from individuals, nonprofits, schools
and universities concerned about doing something good for the
environment like purchasing and retiring credits," said Garth Edward, an
environmental broker for Natsource, an international energy brokerage firm.