COA's Offset Commitment
On October 8, 2006, the Board of Trustees and College of the Atlantic's President David Hales committed to offset all of COA's carbon emissions that could not be avoided or reduced from the beginning of October 2006 forward. Our first offset purchase covers the fifteen-month period from October 1, 2006 to December 31, 2007.

To determine the extent of our emissions, COA used a carbon emissions calculator specifically designed for colleges by the environmental nonprofit Clean Air-Cool Planet. By entering data for our heating fuel use, electricity consumption, travel and other factors the college's carbon emissions footprint was calculated for each year from 1990 to 2007. Separately, we surveyed the college community to determine daily commuting mileage and associated carbon emissions for faculty, staff and students, calculated emissions from bringing prospective students to campus, and collected information necessary to calculate the carbon emissions of people flying and driving to the college to attend conferences, workshops and various celebrations. Additionally, the college estimated the carbon emissions associated with academic program travel by members of the college community. For the fifteen-month period, our total carbon emissions were 2,488 tons.

Our Offset Purchase
After studying the carbon emissions offset market for more than a year and reviewing various carbon emissions offset providers, COA chose to work with The Climate Trust, an environmental nonprofit located in Portland, Oregon. The project we selected to support through our offset purchase is the optimization of traffic signals in the City of Portland, Oregon. The Portland Office of Sustainable Development is undertaking the project, over a five-year period, working with the Portland Office of Transportation, Oregon Department of Transportation and Washington County, Oregon, to improve signal timing on seventeen major metropolitan arterials. Reducing idling and acceleration will decrease the emissions of carbon dioxide from gasoline and diesel fuel. The five-year project will result in the reduction of 189,000 tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of taking 34,000 cars off the road for a year. COA's offset purchase will result in a share of that reduction equal to taking 470 cars off the road for a year.

How the Project Reduces CO2
The project funds studies by traffic signal system operators that will lead to taking specific traffic flow optimization steps on some of Portland's most congested city streets. Emissions will be reduced from vehicles by decreasing the amount of time cars spend idling at and accelerating from traffic lights. Improved traffic flow and reduced fuel waste from stop-and-go driving will lead to less carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. Additional benefits of the project for commuters include saving gasoline and time traveling across town. Overall air quality in the region will also be improved due to the reduction of other vehicle tailpipe emissions. The project may serve as a model for similar projects across the country.

Portland's program costs are covered through a pay-for-performance contract with The Climate Trust. After the signal timing has been completed, The Climate Trust pays Portland based on the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that will be avoided. Portland will then transfer ownership of the carbon dioxide offsets created by these reduced emissions to The Climate Trust. The offsets purchased by College of the Atlantic are then retired. They cannot be resold. The sale of carbon offsets was necessary to raise the funds to make the traffic signal optimization project viable. No other funding sources are available. Because of this, the project meets the strictest definition of "additionality".