Why did College of the Atlantic commit to carbon neutrality?
We believe that all of us - institutions and individuals - are responsible for the consequences of our actions. All of us contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Cumulatively, human actions are causing a massive increase in the pace of climate change. If we don't alter course, the consequences for this planet and our children will be intolerable.

Why should a college increase the cost of education by spending funds to reduce global warming?
We're not. Most of our investment in reducing emissions will also reduce our operating costs over time, increasing our financial sustainability. For the remainder, we are not increasing the cost of providing an education; the costs are real. We are internalizing them so that our costs are not paid by others. We seek no hidden subsidies from those who will suffer most from climate change, especially the poor.

How can emissions from a college in Maine be "offset"by a project somewhere else?
There is only one atmosphere. Since all greenhouse gases end up in that single atmosphere, the location of the emission is irrelevant. Therefore, if we reduce emissions by a ton anywhere, the total of emissions to the atmosphere is reduced by a ton.

Why doesn't COA just reduce its own emissions to zero?
We can't. Our students need to visit their families on vacation, our faculty and staff need to get to campus, to conferences and to meetings, and so they fly and drive. Winters in Maine are cold, and so our buildings - some of which are historic treasures that were not designed for energy efficiency - need to be heated.

Given the fact that fossil fuels power our life, there is only so much we can do to avoid or reduce carbon emissions: We can reduce our emissions, but we can't yet eliminate them. We can reach NetZero now only because there is a gigantic surplus of wasteful emissions from the way humans produce and consume energy, making it possible to offset our emissions by reducing that surplus elsewhere. As that surplus erodes, the cost of "offsets"will increase. Eventually, it will be cheaper for everyone to reduce their own emissions. In the meantime, it is better for the atmosphere for us to invest in projects that achieve the greatest verifiable reductions per dollar of investment in the shortest time. The faster we reduce emissions, the less the eventual impacts of that process, and the sooner we will be able to achieve a sustainable balance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. When on-campus offset investments are technologically possible, and make environmental and economic sense, that is where we will invest. For now, investments elsewhere make more sense. We'll monitor the market conditions, technological advancements and the results of our investments and adjust our strategy as we learn.

Why not just plant trees?
Planting trees does not necessarily offset greenhouse gas emissions, and certainly not permanently. For a while, new growth will draw carbon from the atmosphere. But if we take credit for these reductions now, we must also take responsibility for the carbon emissions that will inevitably result from the death and decomposition of the tree. This is necessary even if the planting and growth are factually measured and documented (preferably by independent validators).

Where a tree is planted, what kind of tree it is, how long it actually lives and what happens to it after it dies are critical elements. Even when reductions are fully measured, there is a real question as to whether the new planting is truly additional - that is, whether the purpose of the planting was to reduce emissions and whether the planting would have occurred without the offset investments.

Moreover, many plantation efforts are environmentally unwise, resulting in the destruction of natural forests and ecosystems.

Does saving existing forests reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Not at all. It's a very good thing to do, but not for this reason. Offset investments that go for this purpose are wasted.

Existing forests draw carbon from the atmosphere; they and other biological systems are natural "carbon sinks"that are critical to slowing the pace of climate change, but their continued existence does not offset new emissions. We believe that the smartest, most effective investments keep new emissions from occurring.

Does investing in the production of renewable energy offset greenhouse gas emissions?
It is a good thing to do, but it doesn't necessarily reduce emissions - investing in a wind farm, for example, produces an increase in electrical power, but it doesn't necessarily result in any emissions reductions from other sources. If we were to invest in producing wind or solar power that we would directly consume, and we directly reduced our consumption of fossil based energy by an amount equal to what we generate, it would be a real reduction to our own emissions footprint.

We believe in investing in renewable energy and our investment portfolio reflects that - but we don't count those investments as offsets.

How do you know the offsets you purchased are real?
We believe they are, but we are going to keep a close eye on how the project is working. We have made this investment carefully and conservatively, after extensive investigation. We believe that the business model of The Climate Trust will produce real and measurable emissions reductions, because the project will be monitored by an independent third-party validator, and all contracts are performance-based. If the reductions are not achieved, we will recover our investment and immediately reinvest in a better project. Moreover, the reductions from this project are truly "additional" they would not have occurred without the Climate Trust investment.

What does "additional" mean?
It means that the reductions would not have occurred without the offset purchases or investments. If a project is going ahead anyway - if it is just a result of "business as usual,"and the sale of offsets is really just an afterthought to make more money for project sponsors, or if the project is required by law or environmental regulations, then the reductions of greenhouse gases are not additional and our investment would be wasted.

What are COA's emissions?
Total Carbon Emissions for the 15-month period October 1, 2006 to December 31, 2007*:

*In future years, COA will be offsetting its emissions annually.