Interview with Eric Carlson, executive director of Carbonfund.org
Just before the holidays, we had the opportunity to catch up with Eric Carlson, executive director of Carbonfund.org. We’ve worked closely with Eric and his team since launching “Plant a Tree for Me” last January. He has more than fifteen years experience promoting cost-effective solutions to climate change, with an extensive background in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Q. Tell us a bit about yourself.
EC: I am the founder and president of Carbonfund.org, an organization I believe is changing the world by empowering people and businesses to win the fight against climate change. I’ve spent virtually my entire career in the environmental field, promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy, both in the US and internationally. Climate change threatens all of us and we have a short period of time to solve it before all our efforts will be spent on ‘adaptation’. I would like to avoid this. I have a wonderful wife and beautiful daughters and I’d like them to one day show their children a glacier.
Q. What led you to found Carbonfund.org?
EC: I founded Carbonfund.org to empower people to solve climate change by hastening our transition to a clean energy future. I believed, and still believe, that a small percentage of people offsetting their emissions by supporting climate-friendly projects will drive the cost of clean technology below their dirty energy counterparts causing a sea change in investment by Wall Street, utilities and others. Carbonfund.org was founded to spur market transformation and we are already seeing the positive results.
Q. What does “green” mean to you?
EC: Being green is more than just cleaning the air, it is tied to so many of our problems. Our dependence on oil threatens our national security. The pollutants spewed out of our tail pipes and power plants cause climate change, acid rain, smog, lung and respiratory illnesses, etc. Mercury emissions have been tied to infant health problems and the environmental causes of cancer are becoming better known. All this junk is tied together. I am glad climate change is causing us to re-think our energy system because the benefits will go far beyond reducing CO2 emissions.
Q. Can carbon sequestration really make a difference?
EC: Absolutely. We know that 20-25 percent of climate change is being caused by deforestation. Reforestation must be part of the solution to climate change and to restoring natural habitats, watersheds and wildlife. Bear in mind, sequestration is the only form of carbon offset that actually reduces CO2 in the atmosphere from the last fifty years, the CO2 causing climate change today. Renewable energy and energy efficiency, which are equally important, reduce the need for future emissions but sequestration provides us time to get to a clean energy future. The United Nations, World Bank and dozens of other international organizations understand the value of sequestration and certify their results.
Q. What is the most significant contribution you’ve personally made to the environment?
EC: Starting Carbonfund.org and providing individuals an outlet to reduce their emissions allowed me to multiply my efforts beyond what I could do personally.
Q. What have you learned from this experience? Has it changed your perspective?
EC: First, people are hungry to be part of the solution to climate change. They understand they are part of the problem and genuinely want to do their part. Second, people are shocked to learn that for about $9.00 a month the average person can offset their emissions and support clean energy projects and technology. Fighting climate change does not have to break the bank and will likely be very good for our economy.
Running Carbonfund.org has made me believe that if we just have another decade or two we might just beat this problem and provide our children and grandchildren a clean energy future free of climate change and also energy wars, pollution, health problems. If we win, we win big.
Q. Are you seeing any emerging trends?
EC: Bringing your carbon footprint to your individual purchases is definitely an important trend. Dell spearheaded this a year ago through the Plant a tree for Me program. But the biggest trend is that consumers are demanding their companies be green and sustainable and it is spurring a very healthy race by companies to see who can be the greenest.
Q. Ten years from now, what will you look back and say you achieved?
EC: That a very small number of individuals and businesses transformed the market and changed the world. CO2 emissions will be on the decline globally because clean energy will cost less than dirty energy because these leaders were willing to subsidize its development, and all new energy sources will be clean based on economics. Pretty lofty goals but, really, what choice do we have?
