LiveNeutral purchases emissions credits through the Chicago Climate Exchange because of the demonstrated effectiveness of its members in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, CCX members are exceeding their emissions reduction targets. When LiveNeutral purchases emissions credits for you, we are stimulating a consumer market and encouraging more entities to join emission reductions programs like the CCX.
Read beneath the graphics for a more in-depth description of how we use the market to offset your personal emissions. Or take a look at our Q&A section further down.
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Everyone has a carbon footprint. Carbon is the main greenhouse gas
behind climate change. Your carbon footprint is unique to you. How you
travel, use electricity, and even how you eat are all factors.
Companies also have a carbon footprint. Their footprints can be quite
a bit larger.
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Like you, many companies want to make their footprints smaller. An exchange was created to help them do this. The exchange sets emissions
reduction goals and tracks members’ progress. Companies who exceed their goals can trade carbon credits with those who fall short. In the big picture, as companies reach their goals, carbon emissions drop each year.
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With LiveNeutral, you can vote with your dollars to drive greater emission reductions. First, you calculate your carbon footprint. Then, you buy and retire credits for that amount. This increases demand. And it gives companies a reason to make their footprints even smaller.
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The result? Fewer greenhouse gases. Responsible companies, responsible people. And a healthy and sustainable planet for everyone.
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LiveNeutral gives everyone the power to stop climate change. From individuals to businesses to nonprofits to schools, we help you calculate and then neutralize your carbon emissions. By no means do we consider offsets The Answer to global warming. But its one of the best ways we know of to start reducing the threat of global warming today.
Pollution is pollution. How is it possible to neutralize emissions?
You neutralize your emissions by helping to fund large-scale emissions reductions that are taking place elsewhere in amounts equal to the emissions you generate. For example, if your car emitted 12,000 lbs. of CO2 last year, your donation will support 12,000 lbs. pounds of verified, CO2 reductions today.
Those 12,000 lbs are equal to about 620 gallons of gas. When you offset them it is the same as taking one car off the road for a year, thereby making your driving for one year neutral. You can play with more equivalencies at this site
Where do these carbon reductions come from?
When you buy a carbon-neutral certification from LiveNeutral, we buy third-party-verified and legally accountable emissions reduction credits on your behalf through the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). These reduction credits then function as an offset for your emissions. Many companies and organizations besides LiveNeutral also purchase from the CCX, but they purchase offset project credits rather than the reduction credits we purchase.
The Chicago Climate Exchange supplies the highest-quality, third-party-verified, and legally accountable emissions reductions credits available today.
How exactly are emissions reduction credits generated?
Most reductions are achieved through increased energy efficiency in member companies’ operations. For example, improving the efficiency of a power plant can reduce its emissions profile. About 10% of the reduction goals are achieved through the support of specific offset projects, such as methane destruction at farms and landfills, reforestation and forest conservation projects, low carbon farm tilling and displacing high carbon energy in the grid with clean, renewable energy.
What’s the Chicago Climate Exchange?
Founded in 2003, the Chicago Climate Exchange functions as a kind of stock market for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Its 300+ members include companies like DuPont, Bayer, Baxter International, and American Electric Power. The states of Illinois and New Mexico have also joined. Membership is entirely voluntary, but members are legally bound to comply once they join. Upon joining, members calculate their baseline, or reference level of emissions, (an average of greenhouse gas emissions between 1998 and 2001, or the single year 2000). They commit to reach annual reduction targets to total a 6% reduction below baseline by 2010.
Why would a major corporation voluntarily reduce its emissions?
Believe it or not, many companies sincerely want to do the right thing. There’s also a financial incentive. Companies that reduce more emissions than required can trade offsets with companies that didn’t quite meet their goals. As demand for credits increases, so does their price. It’s a win-win situation for both you and the companies that reduce. In addition, it has become increasingly apparent that climate legislation is looming in the U.S. Congress and major corporations are likely to be affected. Thus companies who are building expertise now through CCX membership could have an advantage if future legislation takes the form of a cap-and-trade market to address carbon emissions.
How do I know companies will do what they say?
Qualified, independent experts verify all CCX member companies’ and offset projects’ reduction claims for authenticity and accuracy. In addition, the entire CCX platform is annually audited by The National Association of Securities Dealers. No other United States emission reduction credits program has this level of enforceability and accountability.
Can I buy credits directly from the Chicago Climate Exchange?
Only CCX members can trade credits on the exchange. That’s where LiveNeutral comes in. Our parent organization, the Presidio School of Management, is an Associate member of CCX. The School buys and permanently retires blocks of carbon credits, then parses them out to people like you.
We like to think of it as an experiment in democracy, opening the market to public participation. Not only does your participation neutralize emissions, but it also matures, develops, and proves a cutting-edge market in pollution reduction. When governmental policy eventually catches up to the markets (and it will), you’ll already be a part of the solution.
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