Marist USA Province's New Carbon Offset Initiative

September 23, 2024
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Vision

The goal of the Marist Brothers Carbon Offset Program is to help compensate for the environmental costs of travel in solidarity with the Laudato Si’ Action Platform. With the help of the Catholic Climate Covenant, this program is an effort to work toward a Net Zero Emissions pathway for the Province, defined by the International Governmental Panel on Climate Change as the following: “Net zero emissions are achieved when anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere are balanced by anthropogenic removals over a specified period” (IPCC 2018).

Action Plan

  • All Province employees record mileage of vehicles on September 1, 2024
  • Province employees record mileage on vehicles quarterly (every 3 months)
  • Every quarter, Province employees mileage driven + type of car and mileage flown, to the Province Finance Office
  • Province Finance Office will calculate carbon footprint of car and plane travel and pay an average rate of $15 per metric ton of carbon into a designated Ecology fund
  • “The average passenger car emits 0.77 pounds of CO₂ per mile driven.” (U.S. EPA [2023]).
  • A typical passenger vehicle emits ~4.6 metric tons of CO2 per year = ~$69 per year
  • “In the United States, the average person emits around 386 kilograms of CO2 each year from internal flights” (H. Ritchie) = 0.386 metric tons = ~$5.79
  • The average 92 kg CO2 per passenger per hour (Carbon Independent), so a ~3-hour flight from NYC to Miami would emit about 276 kg = ~$4.14

Timeline

  • Approval program at Provincial Council meeting in May
  • Roll out program in JulyLaunch on September 1 for the Season of Creation
Frequently Asked Questions from the Catholic Climate Covenant

What are carbon offsets?

Carbon offsets are one type of temporary solution for our enormous carbon footprints, especially for those emissions that we can’t directly reduce. In this approach, you “offset” your carbon footprint by financing an activity that removes greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, or at least reduces what would have otherwise been emitted. Carbon offsets have become a useful tool for individuals and organizations around the world to compensate for these unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions.

It is important to keep in mind that carbon offsets are not a long-term solution to climate change. They are only a stopgap measure, and after we’ve done as much as we can to reduce our emissions, we can use them in good conscience while we try to solve the actual problem—producing those greenhouse gases in the first place. In other words, they should not be used instead of long-term solutions, which decrease emissions at the source, but rather alongside them!

How much money is a typical carbon offset contribution with CathCAP?

We calculate a ratio of $15 per ton of carbon emitted, but everyone has unique travel patterns, so your CathCAP contribution could range from $30 to $300 or more. The amount varies depending on the mode of transportation, distance, and energy efficiency of your travel.

Here is an example:

I drive 15,000 miles per year and my car averages 28 miles per gallon. My total contribution to CathCAP for automobile transportation this year is approximately $75.

I made three roundtrip airline flights this year: one lasting one hour each way (DC to NYC), the second two hours each way (DC to Chicago), and a cross-country trip averaging 4.5 hours each way (DC to Los Angeles). My total annual offset cost for air travel is approximately $46.

My total annual contribution to CathCAP is approximately $131.

-Source: cathcap.org

Where can I find more information about my carbon footprint?

Calculate your carbon footprint here

Would you like to calculate your own carbon footprint? The EPA has a tool for doing just that.

This calculator tells you how much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases your activities emit, while also offering advice about how you can reduce those emissions. Everyone’s carbon footprint is different, depending on where they live what they do every day, so all of these need to be factored into the calculations. For example, some regions get their power from coal-burning power plants, while others use nuclear, solar, or hydropower; some people drive an hour to and from work, while others only use public transportation to get around.

Reduce your carbon footprint here

Do you want to reduce your carbon footprint and encourage others to do the same? Catholic Climate Covenant explains 10 simple ways you can do that.

These include lifestyle changes like using less water, which takes a lot of energy to treat, transport, and heat. They also include targeted activities like writing to policy makers, who have decision-making power over environmental regulations and incentives.

Reduce the carbon footprint of your parish

Do you want your organization to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and become more environmentally conscious? Catholic Climate Covenant offers some suggestions for that as well.

You can reduce your organization’s carbon footprint by doing many of the same things you could as an individual—adjusting the thermostat depending on the time of year, installing water and energy efficient appliances, or switching to reusable dinnerware for events. However, working together as a community also gives you many unique advantages and opportunities, which can help you make an even bigger impact than if everyone worked alone. For example, you can create an advocacy group that attends local government meetings or distributes educational materials in schools. Making it a joint effort will not only help you garner more attention and support, it will also help you share ideas and opinions with each other and grow in community.

Learn about renewable energy sources

Do you want to learn more about transitioning to renewable energy sources? Joan Brown writes about these technologies and how they can be used to fight climate change.

Is CathCAP a carbon offset platform?

CathCAP is a kind of carbon offset platform that gives you the opportunity to compensate for your carbon footprint using calculators to estimate the cost of your emissions and the respective carbon offsets. However, CathCAP differs from other platforms in that it is more flexible about how that compensation happens, and isn’t strictly a one-for-one compensation. In reality, very few carbon offset platforms can guarantee an exact offset for each ton of greenhouse gas produced, since there are so many uncertain variables involved in the process. You can learn more about how we calculate your offset here.