NC group doubles carbon offsets for global warming believers

N.C. GreenPower, a Raleigh nonprofit that accepts public donations to subsidize green energy, is offering the equivalent of a half-price discount on its carbon offset program.

As a result, a donor can now reduce 1,000 pounds of someone else's greenhouse gas emissions with every $4 contribution. The donations go to efforts that reduce emissions of carbon dioxide or methane, typically tree-planting projects or technologies that flare off methane gas at landfills or hog lagoons.

The N.C. Utilities Commission, which regulates the carbon offsets program in this state, approved N.C. GreenPower's new price plan today. The new prices are effective retroactively to Aug. 1.

For the past three years, N.C. GreenPower had been offering to offset 500 pounds of greenhouse gases for $4, but the organization is doubling the value because the market price for carbon offsets is dropping.

Such offset programs are popular among people who are concerned about global warming and are willing to pay others to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Skeptics dismiss such programs as guilt fees that pay for programs that would have been implemented anyway.

N.C. GreenPower's carbon offset program is one of dozens around the country, but it is one of the few that is regulated by a government agency. N.C. GreenPower focuses on carbon offset projects in the Carolinas and Virginia.

Since N.C. GreenPower introduced its carbon offsets program in 2008, the organization has taken in about $90,000 in donations to support four projects: two hog farms and a landfill in this state and a landfill in South Carolina. All four reduce reduce emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Flaring off methane breaks down the gas and releases fewer greenhouse gases. Plant trees reduces greenhouse gases because trees absord carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen.

The donations have offset 12.4 million pounds of greenhouse gases, which is equivalent to reducing the greenhouse gases generated by a car driving 17.5 million miles, according to N.C. GreenPower.

Hundreds of individuals and businesses have purchased carbon offsets from N.C. GreenPower. But some have purchased enough to qualify as "carbon-neutral," which means that they are offsetting all the carbon they produce themselves.

Donors listed on N.C. GreenPower's web site as offsetting 100 percent of their own emissions are Burt's Bees in Durham, Riley Life Logistics in Durham and Southern Energy Management in Morrisville.

Typically donors give monthly in blocks of $4 through their electric utility bills, but some buy multiple blocks. Donors can also send payments directly to N.C. GreenPower. To donate, click here.