CCC News gets Carbon Neutral for Christmas

CCCNews team says thanks to Carol Peterson for helping the company become carbon neutral.

By Carol Peterson

On Dec. 16th, CCCNews received 5 metric tons (mT) of high-quality CO2 offsets purchased from Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s improved forest management offsets portfolio, completely offsetting emissions from CCCNews’s operations in 2020.

That makes CCCNews among the front-runners in achieving the Paris Agreement target for all businesses to become “carbon neutral” via reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to the extent possible and offsetting the remainder.

Large US corporations such as Microsoft, AT&T, and Amazon have announced plans to become carbon neutral between 2030 to 2040, and Google continues to be a pace-setter in sustainable practices by offsetting all greenhouse gas emissions since its founding in 1998.

Like Google, CCCNews is now “carbon neutral since founding”.

Carbon neutral declarations are only meaningful when rigorous methods are used to achieve this status.

Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), based in Portland, is a well-respected provider of online emissions calculators and greenhouse gas offsets meeting the test of “real, measurable, verifiable and additional”.  For well over a decade BEF has been a recognized leader in supporting the sustainability initiatives of businesses, individuals and even events, such as the “Low-Carbon” White House Correspondent’s dinner in 2010.

To learn more about carbon offsets such as forestry and renewable energy click here. 

Using BEF’s business calculator, it was determined that CCCNews’s 2020 emissions only came from two gasoline-powered vehicles, since all utilities are powered by 98 percent emission-free and hydroelectric power from Northern Wasco County PUD sourced almost entirely from Bonneville Power Administration.

This new format of online news has the distinct advantage of removing print and delivery costs of a traditional newspaper - greatly reducing carbon emissions through transportation.

Results showed CCCNews has an extremely small carbon footprint of only 5 mT/yr, as is expected for an online publication. 

Five metric tons is roughly one-third to one-fourth of the average emissions of one person living in the U.S. 

Asked whether CCC’s small footprint of 5 mT CO2 was worth reducing and offsetting, owner Tom Peterson replied, “Heck, yes, I’m all in”.

Peterson explained that CCC was founded on principles of integrity and rigorously honest journalism so taking full responsibility for CCC’s carbon footprint from day one is absolutely consistent with the business mission and core values.  

But CCCNews could do better. When asked what his plans were, Peterson pointed out that one vehicle gets relatively low mileage per gallon and would be driven less in the near term and eventually replaced.

“I plan to get on my bike more too,” he said, noting he also needed to offset his COVID 15.

As for offset purchases, he plans on continuing to support improved forest management to re-establish and preserve old-growth forests in the Northwest, offsetting CO2 emissions by increasing net forest biomass.   “I’ve been active in preserving Oregon’s natural landscape for everyone to enjoy through my past work with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, he said. “CCCNews’s journalists are similarly passionate about this subject and cover these initiatives in our local area.

“It just feels right for us to support improved forest management over the long-term.”  

Click here to look at the checklist of items to calculate your business’s carbon footprint.

To purchase carbon offsets for you or your business or to give the gift of carbon neutrality click here.

Note From CCCNews - Our Thanks to Wally Wolf for explaining that our building is warmed with an electric heat pump. Full Disclosure - Carol Peterson is a sister to Tom Peterson and she is awesome. She helped CCCNews become carbon neutral after researching the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and finding it has a solid portfolio of offsets for carbon. And she did get her doctorate in Analytical Chemistry - so she has us beat on the science - but just by a little. ;) She hopes to become a regular contributor here at CCCNews.