Up front: North Cowichan considering a Stoney question On stage: The bloody puzzle that was Lizzie Borden
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Cowichan set to take full credit for carbon Community Carbon Marketplace: National carbon credit pilot project keeping eco-bucks close to home Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
B
Andrew Leong
Georgia Hunt puts her horse through its paces last weekend during an advanced jumping skills workshop at Foxstone Stable in Glenora. Hunt is considered a premier rider by Gail Greenough, who conducted the sessions. Greenough, 52, who still holds the claim to fame of being the only woman and the youngest rider to ever win the World Show Jumping Championship, offered her expertise to Hunt and other local riders at the sessions.
usting carbon by fueling green projects may make Cowichan a national eco-pioneer. A pilot project between Cowichan Energy Alternatives and Duncan council could see municipalities, government ministries, and businesses across Canada buy carbon credits generated by local projects spanning community gardens and tree planting, to parks, recycling drives and solar energy. The catalyst is CEA’s carbon assessments which measure — to provincial and international standards — how much the valley’s various green projects reduce globalwarming carbon. Those offsets can then be sold, on the Àedgling Community Carbon Marketplace, to cities such as Duncan that signed B.C.’s Climate Action Charter toward carbon neutrality by year’s end. “The whole objective is to get small organizations a whole new source of revenue,” said CEA’s Brian Roberts. He likened the Community Carbon Marketplace to a green-projects Craig’s List where cities and others can buy carbon credits. “It’s (deciding) ‘Which project do I want to support?’ then buying credits from them. We have the potential to do really great things here with this carbon trading system.” Roberts’ plan helps locals measure and market carbon offsets to local governments, which are poised to pay into B.C.’s Paci¿c Carbon Trust in 2013. Since 2010, that trust has been Àuffed by public sectors spanning school boards, VIU, hospitals, and many other entities. “It’s supposed to work like tax shifting by putting costs on bad (carbon-rich) activities, helping create renewable energies, and reducing dependence on (fossil fuels).” Duncan Mayor Phil Kent had ¿gured city taxpayers would drop $1,400 a year into the trust — money he’d rather feed into local green initiatives. Now, the city has that
option, thanks to ¿ve projects whose carbon footprint is being CEA-audited. In early December, council will pick from those ¿ve to buy carbon credits, and ful¿ll its 2012 carbon commitment. Credits from quali¿ed but unselected projects will still be eligible for purchase by other buyers after the carbon marketplace’s launch in January. Kent was stoked about keeping Duncan’s carbon cash here while reducing energy use and greenhouse gases. “We felt we needed an option to invest in local solutions.” Roberts noted, “Cities can fund projects already generating carbon offsets, or start new projects and direct community projects toward carbon neutrality.” Home-grown carbon-selling by the CEA’s marketplace could ripple worldwide, Kent indicated. “I hope ultimately it can be duplicated across B.C and across North America and worldwide — it’s people investing in projects to reduce impacts in their own communities.” And compared to the complex carbon trust, Cowichan’s marketplace pilot made sense to Kent. “This is a way we can meet our (charter) objectives, and we can do it as a community trading system.” Roberts explained money in the Paci¿c trust wasn’t accessible to smaller community groups. “The CEA’s been studying the provincial guidelines, and got our certi¿cation to do carbon accounting. We can do the assessments at a fraction of the cost of a big engineering or accounting ¿rm.” Then CEA created the marketplace to help non-pro¿ts — Cowichan Green Communities, Cowichan Recyclists, and others — cut carbon while making money. He’s also pitched the carbon marketplace to North Cowichan Mayor Jon Lefebure, and CVRD environment manager Kate Miller. “They really get it. The timing is perfect. Communities are committed to being carbon neutral, but didn’t have the vehicle to do that.”
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