SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 12, 2013 – Today a high-profile group of partners – the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy, the California Coastal Conservancy, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), the American Carbon Registry (ACR), The Nature Conservancy, HydroFocus and Tierra Resources – announce the kick-off meetings for development of a new carbon offset methodology to scientifically quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions from the restoration of California deltaic and coastal wetlands. Funding for methodology development was provided by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) the California Coastal Conservancy, Metropolitan Water District and DWR.

Opportunities are abundant to enhance current land-use practices by restoring wetlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Suisun Marsh, and California coastal areas. Restoration activities that rebuild subsided lands are critical to long-term sustainability of these ecosystems as well as a significant source of GHG emissions reductions.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, more than 80 percent of historic tidal wetlands disappeared in the last 150 years. Over 2.5 billion cubic meters of organic soils have disappeared since delta islands were first diked and drained for agriculture in the late 1800s, resulting in land subsidence up to 25 feet below sea level. Drained and cultivated organic soils continue to oxidize, subside and emit an estimated 1.5 to 2 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent annually – equal to annual emissions from approximately 310,000 passenger vehicles.

“Demonstrating that the critical restoration work we need to accomplish throughout the state is also part of the solution to climate change will be crucial to meeting the state’s coastal management goals in the years to come,” said Sam Schuchat, Executive Officer of the State Coastal Conservancy.

Providing options for landowners to convert their most subsided and marginal lands from current farming practices to either wetlands managed for carbon enhancements or to production of wetland crops such as rice could substantially reduce these annual emissions while reducing risks such as levy failure.

“Having an approved methodology will allow for trading carbon credits, giving Delta growers opportunities to put low-productivity wet areas back into economic production, while simultaneously starting to reverse the subsidence that threatens their long-term viability,” said Campbell Ingram, Executive Officer of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy.

Over the past decade, state and federal initiatives have raised over $100 million for wetland restoration, resulting in tens of thousands of acres of active restoration projects, however, the funding remains insufficient to meet established restoration goals of up to 100,000 acres of marsh. Carbon market revenues could help fill the funding gap for wetland restoration and provide landowners with new incentives. Once approved, the methodology will facilitate the generation of carbon offsets from California wetland restoration projects that reduce GHG emissions. Carbon offsets can be sold to corporations to meet their voluntary emissionsreduction goals. Additional sources of offsets are also being considered by California regulators for eligibility in the state’s Cap-and-Trade Program, under which power plants and oil refineries are mandated to reduce or offset their emissions.

Obadiah Bartholomy, SMUD Project Manager for Energy Efficiency, R&D and Climate Change said, “We see this as an excellent opportunity all around for the region, helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions, delivering economic and environmental co-benefits, and building resilience to climate change driven sea level rise in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.”

Building on ACR’s approved methodology for quantifying GHG emissions reductions from Restoration of Degraded Deltaic Wetlands of the Mississippi Delta, authored by Tierra Resources, the partnership will integrate California data and restoration techniques to create a rigorous scientific framework for carbon offset project development. Research in freshwater emergent wetlands on delta organic soils shows that carbon capture wetlands are the most carbon-rich landscape per acre. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), DWR, HydroFocus and the University of California at Berkeley have been studying subsidence, GHG emissions, rice and managed wetlands in the delta since the 1980s and have documented very high rates of primary productivity and carbon sequestration in wetlands.

“Development of this greenhouse gas quantification protocol is an important milestone to advance the critical role that wetlands and natural resource restoration should play in climate solutions, while providing new economic incentives to landowners,” said Michelle Passaro, Senior Policy Representative for Climate Change at The Nature Conservancy.

The ACR approval process for the methodology, which includes stakeholder workshops, a public comment period and a scientific peer review process, is expected to be completed in December 2014. The first stakeholder workshop was held yesterday in Oakland and another will be held today in West Sacramento. For more information, contact Kyle Hemes at khemes@winrock.org.

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About the Partners

The American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading carbon offset program recognized for its strong standards for environmental integrity. Founded in 1996 as the first private greenhouse gas registry in the world, ACR has over 18 years of unparalleled experience in the voluntary carbon market. In addition, ACR is an approved Offset Project Registry (OPR) for the California Cap-and-Trade Program. In this role, ACR works with the state regulatory agency to oversee the registration and issuance of Offset Credits, which can be converted to compliance credits and used by California entities to help meet their emissions reductions obligations. Visit www.americancarbonregistry.org.

The California Coastal Conservancy acts with others to preserve, protect, and restore the resources of the California coast, ocean, and the San Francisco Bay Area.  Our vision is of a beautiful, restored, and accessible coastline, ocean and San Francisco Bay Area.  Visit www.scc.ca.gov

The California Department of Water Resources is responsible for managing and protecting California’s water. DWR works with other agencies to benefit the state’s people, and to protect, restore and enhance the natural and human environments.

HydroFocus Principal Steve Deverel has worked on subsidence and carbon issues in the delta since the 1980s. HydroFocus will play a lead role in developing the scientific underpinnings for methodology development and play a major role in writing and adapting the Mississippi Delta protocol to California conditions. HydroFocus will develop and provide guidance and data requirements for use of models for estimation and baseline carbon emissions and project GHG benefits.

The Sacramento-SanJoaquin Delta Conservancy’s primary purpose is to help implement projects that will result in integrated environmental, economic and social benefits. To reach that goal, the Conservancy works in collaboration with local communities, interested groups and state and federal agencies to seek creative opportunities to address challenges and reach agreement for moving these efforts forward. The Delta Conservancy in coordination with ACR will help interface with stakeholders and ARB.

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is the nation’s sixth largest communityowned electric service provider and has been providing low-cost, reliable electricity for more than 67 years to Sacramento County as well as a small portion of Placer County. SMUD is a recognized industry leader and award winner for its innovative energy efficiency programs, renewable power technologies, and for its sustainable solutions for a healthier environment. SMUD is the first large California utility to receive more than 20 percent of its energy from renewable resources. For more information visit http://smud.org.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than one million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.

Tierra Resources, was founded in New Orleans in 2007 with a mission to conserve, protect, and restore coastal wetland ecosystems by creating innovative solutions that support investment into blue carbon contained in coastal wetland ecosystems, such as estuaries, mangroves, and salt marshes. Tierra Resources’ services enable landowners, corporations, nonprofits, and government clients to understand the regulatory, financial, and scientific landscape to preserve and restore wetlands and monetize wetland offsets. Tierra Resources President and CEO Dr. Sarah Mack was the lead author of the original Mississippi Delta methodology.  Dr. Mack will serve as advisor and reviewer for the development of the California modules. Visit www.tierraresourcesllc.com.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 17, 2013 – Last night, the American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, hosted its annual awards event. Welcoming invitees, Winrock President and CEO Rodney Ferguson affirmed Winrock’s continued commitment to supporting the American Carbon Registry in its role as an innovator in the voluntary carbon market, as well as in the role of helping to make the California cap-and-trade program a success.

ACR Director John Kadyszewski presented ACR’s Climate Leadership award to Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in recognition of decades of inexorable passion and leadership to motivate climate action by governments, businesses and individuals.

“Christiana shares Winrock’s belief in the science of climate change and our deep-rooted concern that climate change will have a disproportionate impact on the poor,” Kadyszewski said. “She believes that climate change is the greatest challenge we face in the world today, but also that addressing the challenge provides an unparalleled global opportunity to spur an ambitious technology revolution. This conviction has led her to dedicate her career to achieving meaningful commitments and a global policy framework for climate action, to engaging the private sector to accelerate the industrial transformation, and to inspire civil society to be part of the solution. She has taken on this challenge fearlessly, thanklessly and with enthusiasm. We are proud to honor her with our Climate Leadership award and know that along with us, future generations will be grateful for her work.”

ACR also recognized outstanding environmental achievements of trailblazing organizations with awards based on the organization’s guiding principles of innovation, quality and excellence. The Innovation award went to two pioneering entities that made possible the development and piloting of a revolutionary U.S. carbon offset methodology for deltaic wetland restoration: Tierra Resources and Entergy Corporation. The methodology, developed by Tierra Resources with funding from Entergy’s Environmental Initiatives Fund, creates a pathway through the sale of carbon offsets to raise much-needed funds for wetland restoration. Tierra Resources is piloting the first projects under the methodology in the Mississippi Delta and plans to work with ACR to expand the methodology for applicability in California.

“As a scientist, I chose to work with the American Carbon Registry because of the team’s extensive knowledge of terrestrial carbon sequestration and science-based approach to ensure the environmental integrity of offsets,” said Dr. Sarah Mack, CEO of Tierra Resources. “We are proud of this recognition of the many years of work that led to the development and approval of this first-of-its-kind methodology and are thrilled to be blazing the trail to register the first blue carbon wetland restoration projects on ACR.”

“Entergy is pleased to receive this award from the American Carbon Registry, an organization that has worked with us for more than a decade to explore innovative emission reduction project opportunities,” said Chuck Barlow, vice president, environmental strategy and policy for Entergy Corporation. “Wetland restoration not only will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create jobs but also preserve ecosystems and infrastructure by protecting against storm surge and flooding in the communities Entergy serves.”  General Motors received the ACR Corporate Excellence award for its demonstrated commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and mitigating its climate impact. GM has decreased its manufacturing emissions by 60 percent since 1990, recycles 90 percent of its manufacturing waste, has made reductions in water and fossil fuel use, and invested hundreds of millions of dollars to build fuel-efficient vehicles like the Chevy Volt. In addition to the company’s numerous awards and top environmental sustainability rankings, in 2010 General Motors announced the $40 million Chevrolet Carbon Reduction Initiative, one of the largest voluntary commitments to greenhouse gas reductions in U.S. history. As part of this commitment, Chevrolet is investing in local, community-based carbon-reduction projects throughout the U.S. with a goal of reducing up to eight million tons of CO2 emissions. Through the initiative, Chevrolet will retire carbon credits from a variety of projects including an ACR-registered National Forest Foundation project, which is restoring 250 acres of the San Juan National Forest in Colorado, as well as the ACRregistered IdleAir project, which reduces GHG emissions from long-haul freight transportation through truck stop electrification technology.

“The Chevy Carbon Reduction Initiative takes Chevrolet’s commitment to the environment a step beyond providing fuel efficient and electrified vehicles like the Volt from plants that do not send any wastes to landfills. It’s about connecting with our customers in a different way, a way that directly impacts them and the communities in which they live and work,” said Chris Perry, vice president Chevrolet Marketing. “We appreciate American Carbon Registry’s recognition of our commitment.”

The Walt Disney Company and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation were both honored with the ACR Commitment to Quality award. ACR recognized Disney for its commitment to reviving and restoring forests. The company has invested $30 million in global forest carbon projects, and purchases only the highest-quality offsets that meet rigorous environmental criteria. Disney met its 2012 net direct greenhouse gas emissions target through a hierarchy of avoiding fuels where possible, using fuel more efficiently, seeking low-carbon alternatives, and lastly through investing in forest carbon projects. Since 2009, Disney has invested in a number of forest conservation, reforestation, and forest management projects designed to avoid or sequester carbon emissions. One of those projects is an ACR-registered National Forest Foundation project to reforest 900 acres in the Angeles National Forest through the planting of 154,000 trees to help recover from the Station Fire.

ACR selected the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to highlight the organization’s pilot activities, such as reforestation and fertilizer management projects to be registered on ACR, that will not only provide quantifiable water quality benefits for the Chesapeake Bay watershed, but will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Our mission is to save the Chesapeake Bay,” said Dr. Beth McGee, Chesapeake Bay Foundation senior water quality scientist. . “It will be a win-win if we can demonstrate through our pilot projects that the carbon market can provide alternate revenue streams to help local farmers and landowners adopt practices that will improve water quality in addition to achieving real greenhouse gas emission reduction benefits.”

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The non-profit American Carbon Registry, (ACR), an enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading carbon offset program recognized for its strong standards for environmental integrity. Founded in 1996, ACR has over fifteen years of unparalleled experience in development of rigorous, science-based carbon offset standards and methodologies as well as operational experience in the oversight of high quality offset project verification, registration, offset issuance, serialization and transparent on-line transaction and retirement reporting. In addition to its voluntary carbon market activities, ACR is an approved Offset Project Registry (OPR) for the California Cap-and-Trade Program. As an OPR, ACR works with the state regulatory agency to oversee the registration and issuance of compliance-eligible Offset Credits. As the first private greenhouse gas registry in the world, ACR has set the bar for offset quality that is the market standard today and continues to lead carbon market innovation.

ARLINGTON, Va. (October 3, 2012) – The American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, announced today the approval of a revolutionary carbon offset methodology to quantify Emission Reductions through Truck Stop Electrification (TSE). The 2011 Environmental

Defense Fund report “The Good Haul” highlighted TSE as one of 10 technologies that can reduce freight-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Developed jointly by ACR and IdleAir, the methodology provides the opportunity to tap the carbon market to accelerate emissions reductions from a critical segment of U.S. freight transportation — long-haul trucking.

Drivers of long-haul trucks are required by the Federal Highway Administration to park and rest after a certain amount of drive time. These layovers and rest periods typically occur at truck stops and rest areas. During the time when drivers rest, they often idle their engines in order to maintain a comfortable temperature and to power electronics and appliances such as televisions, laptops and microwaves. Although idling occurs year-round, it peaks in extreme temperatures when air conditioning and heating are more critical.

Truck idling produces harmful emissions that affect the air quality and potentially the health of truck drivers as well as people in adjacent communities. These emissions include EPA-regulated criteria pollutants in addition to carbon dioxide (CO2), which is responsible for 90 percent of the emissions from idling trucks and contributes to global warming.

TSE technology, such as that developed by IdleAir, allows truck drivers to turn off their engines while maintaining a comfortable cabin temperature and enjoying the use of TV, the internet and other electronics. IdleAir is designed to be simple to use: A driver finds an IdleAir location, pulls into an IdleAir parking space, and installs the reusable plastic window adapter, which connects to the IdleAir electrification unit. IdleAir TSE technology not only reduces GHG emissions from engine idling, but allows truck drivers to sleep better without the noise, vibration, and exhaust fumes from idling. Better rested drivers are safer on the road.

“As a [long-haul truck] owner-operator, I love IdleAir,” explains customer Jeff Robinson. “It leaves me rested and happy, not to mention it saves wear on my engine. Lots of people don’t realize how much idling shortens engine life.”

IdleAir currently operates over 900 parking spaces at 30 sites in 12 states. However, despite the numerous benefits of using the IdleAir technology, the up-front installation costs have hindered widespread expansion. Currently, less than 1 percent of all extended truck parking spaces are equipped with TSE.

“IdleAir is very enthusiastic about the approval of the new ACR methodology,” said Ethan Garber, president and CEO of IdleAir. “This opens the door for us to harness the environmental benefits of TSE to help fund the expansion of our network. Hopefully this methodology will encourage further greening of America’s highways and reduce our dependence on imported oil.”

Argonne National Laboratory estimates that drivers idle for an average of 2,100 hours per year. Applied to the estimated 680,000 long-haul drivers nationwide, idling accounts for nearly 11.5 million tons of GHG emitted annually. Based on a 2011 analysis by ICF International, expanding TSE infrastructure and reducing idling presents an opportunity for CO2 abatement that could amount to nearly 4.1 million tons of reductions annually in the U.S.

“American Carbon Registry is pleased to announce approval of this rigorous framework for quantifying emissions reductions from truck stop electrification,” said Nicholas Martin, ACR chief technical officer. “We recognize the environmental and health benefits of using TSE technology and hope that the methodology will catalyze investments in TSE expansion.”

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Contact:

Mary Grady, American Carbon Registry (ACR) Tel: (805) 884-1961 Email: MGrady@winrock.org

Ethan Garber, IdleAir Tel: (917) 673-6466 Email: Ethan.Garber@idleair.com

About the American Carbon Registry

The nonprofit American Carbon Registry (ACR), an enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading carbon offset program recognized for its strong standards for environmental integrity. Founded in 1996 as the first private voluntary registry in the world, ACR has over 15 years of experience in the development of rigorous, science-based carbon offset standards and methodologies as well as in carbon offset issuance, serialization and transparent online transaction and retirement reporting. ACR has set the bar for transparency and integrity that is the market standard today and continues to lead carbon market innovation.

About IdleAir 

IdleAir provides America’s hard-working long-haul truck drivers an alternative to idling their engines with imported petroleum during rest periods. IdleAir service allows truck drivers to turn off their diesel engines and APU’s and still enjoy heating, cooling, standard electric inside and outside the cab, Satellite TV, internet, and many of the comforts of home — all while saving money and getting better sleep without the noise, vibration, and exhaust fumes from idling.

ARLINGTON, Va. and NEW ORLEANS, La. (Sept. 18, 2012) – A revolutionary new tool is now available to help restore the Gulf of Mexico’s disappearing coastal wetlands — Louisiana’s first line of defense against damaging hurricanes like Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Isaac. Funded by Entergy Corporation, developed by New Orleans-based Tierra Resources and approved for use by the American Carbon Registry (ACR) following stakeholder consultation and scientific peer review, the new tool creates a self-sustaining revenue source for wetlands restoration through the sale of carbon offsets.

Here’s how it works: When Mississippi River delta wetlands are restored, landowners can use the new methodology to calculate the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions the rebuilt wetlands will absorb over time. Included in the calculation are the emissions avoided by slowing the rapid loss of existing wetlands throughout the region. The result is registered carbon credits, which landowners can sell to companies that want to offset their greenhouse gas emissions. The proceeds from the sale of carbon credits help offset the landowner’s costs for wetland restoration activities.

The new ACR offset methodology provides a rigorous scientific framework for project development and is unique in providing for generation of carbon offset credits for a wide range of restoration techniques. This includes reforestation and hydrologic management techniques, such as wetlands assimilation. Such techniques introduce treated municipal effluent, providing fresh water and nutrients to increase wetland productivity.

Entergy has provided additional funding to Tierra Resources to pilot the first wetland restoration offset project in the nation applying the ACR methodology. The project, the Luling Oxidation Pond Wetlands Assimilation project, 19 miles west of New Orleans, will discharge treated municipal wastewater into an adjacent 950-acre wetland property to help restore the wetland’s function and thus increase carbon sequestration.

“With operations that include Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, Entergy values wetlands as a first line of defense against storm surge and flooding, and their protection and restoration are vital to the sustainability of coastal Louisiana,” said Chuck Barlow, vice president, environmental strategy and policy for New Orleansbased Entergy. “Wetland restoration  will not only help restore the coastal cypress forest but will also provide multiple benefits to the citizens of St. Charles parish such as reduced storm surge, potential job creation, and enhanced wildlife and fisheries.”

Tierra Resources initiated the innovative partnership that includes St. Charles Parish and Rathborne Land Company to pursue the project as an alternative to tertiary treatment of municipal effluent. Saint Charles Parish plans to compensate the wetland property owner for the beneficial use of the land through the sale of the carbon offsets generated by the project.

“The partners hope to demonstrate wetlands assimilation as an environmentally beneficial alternative to conventional wastewater treatment, while leveraging the carbon market to compensate the landowner,” said Dr. Sarah Mack, president and CEO of Tierra Resources. “We believe that the results will be highly transferable to other areas and restoration techniques.”

The methodology and pilot project development support was provided by Entergy’s Environmental Initiatives Fund. Through the fund shareholders help companies like Tierra Resources develop leading-edge technologies that align with Entergy’s environmental strategy.

“American Carbon Registry is thrilled to announce approval of the wetlands restoration methodology, which we hope will succeed in leveraging the carbon market to bring much-needed funding for these projects,” said Nicholas Martin, ACR chief technical officer.

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About the American Carbon Registry

The nonprofit American Carbon Registry (ACR), an enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading carbon offset program recognized for its strong standards for environmental integrity. Founded in 1996 as the first private voluntary registry in the world, ACR has 15 years of experience in the development of rigorous, science-based carbon offset standards and methodologies as well as in carbon offset issuance, serialization and transparent online transaction and retirement reporting.

About Entergy Corporation

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation’s leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 15,000 employees.

About Tierra Resources

Based in New Orleans, La., Tierra Resources was founded in 2007 with a mission to conserve, protect, and restore coastal wetland ecosystems by creating innovative solutions that support investment into blue carbon contained in coastal wetland ecosystems, such as estuaries, mangroves, and salt marshes. Tierra Resources’ services enable landowners, corporations, nonprofits, and government clients to understand the regulatory, financial, and scientific landscape to preserve and restore wetlands and monetize wetland offsets.

Contact:

Mary Grady, American Carbon Registry Tel: (805) 884-1961 Email: mgrady@winrock.org

Mike Burns, Entergy Corporation Tel: (504) 576-4238 Email: mburns@entergy.com

Sarah Mack, Tierra Resources Tel: (504) 339-4547 Email: sarahmack@tierraresourcesllc.com

May 24, 2012: The American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, has launched its APX-powered registry system, the first tailored specifically to meet regulatory requirements for the California compliance market.

With the registry launch and ACR’s official application submitted last week to the California Air Resources Board (ARB) for approval as an offset project registry (OPR), ACR is immediately open to accept listing of carbon offset projects developed using ARB’s compliance offset protocols. ACR staff will attend ARB’s first mandatory OPR and verifier training in late June in fulfillment of application requirements.

“ACR is open and ready for business in California. Our newly minted APX-powered registry offers the opportunity to get a head-start on listing compliance offset projects,” said John Kadyszewski, ACR director. “We aim to provide project developers and offset purchasers the comfort that ACR is aligned with California policy-makers to support robust and timely offset supply at the start of the cap-andtrade program.”

Under California’s cap-and-trade program, which will begin in 2013, the state’s largest sources of GHG emissions will be required to meet the regulatory greenhouse gas (GHG) emission caps. To contain costs, up to eight percent of the compliance obligation of capped entities, estimated at 200 million tons 2013-2020, can be met with ARB offset credits.

ARB has announced that it will leverage the experience and systems of registries like ACR – which has been conducting similar functions in the voluntary market for over 15 years – to act as OPRs, assisting with the implementation of the compliance offset program. Compliance offset projects will be required to register with OPRs, which will oversee the project listing, verification, registration and issuance of California-eligible offset credits developed in uncapped sectors using ARB-approved compliance offset protocols. Once approved by ARB, registry offset credits will be converted to ARB offset credits on the ARB registry.

During ACR’s March webinar on the California offset market, ARB urged project developers not to wait for OPR and verifier approval to start implementing projects using the already published compliance offset protocols (Forestry, Urban Forestry, Ozone Depleting Substances and Livestock). The primary benefit of using the ARB compliance offset protocols is by-passing the additional verification process required for projects developed using early action protocols.

Now that ACR’s compliance-ready registry is open for business and OPR approval on the horizon, we welcome the submission of California compliance offset projects.

Please join us on Wednesday, May 30th for a free webinar to walk-through ACR’s new APX-powered registry including steps to submit an ARB-eligible offset project. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR.

About the American Carbon Registry

The nonprofit American Carbon Registry (ACR), an enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading carbon offset program recognized for its strong standards for environmental integrity. Founded in 1996 as the first private voluntary registry in the world, ACR has 15 years of experience in the development of rigorous, science-based carbon offset standards and methodologies as well as in carbon offset issuance, serialization and transparent online transaction and retirement reporting. ACR has set the bar for transparency and integrity that is the market standard today and continues to lead carbon market innovation.

Contact:

Mary Grady, American Carbon Registry Tel: (805) 884-1961 Email: mgrady@winrock.org

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 11, 2012 – Last night, the American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, hosted its annual gala reception and dinner. Opening the event by welcoming California Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols, Winrock President and CEO Frank Tugwell highlighted ACR’s activities to gear up for the California carbon market. He announced the hire of a California director who will work out of ACR’s new Sacramento office, the launch of a registry platform with APX, and the appointment of several state luminaries to its Advisory Council. To recognize outstanding environmental achievements of trailblazing organizations, ACR also presented awards based on ACR guiding principles of innovation, quality and excellence.

ACR advisor Cynthia Cory of the California Farm Bureau Federation presented Chair Nichols with the ACR’s first Climate Leadership award in recognition of her ambitious and transformational leadership to develop the first economy-wide cap-and-trade program in the United States. Cap-and-trade is the cornerstone of the state’s historic climate legislation, Assembly Bill 32 (AB32), which mandates a reduction in carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

“We are proud to award Chairman Nichols ACR’s first Climate Leadership award,” Tugwell said at the ceremony. “Her indefatigable approach to implementing AB32 in a way that balances economic, social and environmental concerns is unprecedented. It has inspired us to invest in people, service partnerships and a new office in the state’s capitol to help California to implement its program and continue to build a lowcarbon economy.”

During dinner, ACR presented its Innovation awards to the pioneering co-developers of two ACR emission reduction protocols. The California Rice Commission (CRC) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) were presented with the Innovation award for their collaboration on development an offset protocol for rice production in California. Through a USDA Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG), CRC and EDF are expanding the protocol to include Mid-South rice production and are engaging rice producers in California and Arkansas in pilot offset projects to demonstrate benefits of producer participation in the compliance offset program.

“The California Rice Commission is pleased to be recognized for our pioneering work with EDF to develop an approach for generating greenhouse gas offsets to meet California’s climate goals,” said Paul Buttner, manager of environmental affairs for the California Rice Commission. “We plan to continue our collaborative efforts to develop this into a workable program for rice in California and the Mid-South. We are hopeful that the concepts we’ve developed, such as the use of process-based models in protocols and required aggregation, can contribute to efforts to develop offset protocols that benefit other commodity groups.”

“We are grateful to American Carbon Registry for their thoughtful and rigorous approval process, resulting in one of the first high quality offset protocols for agriculture,” said Rebecca Shaw, a climate scientist and associate vice president for Environmental Defense Fund. “Climate change threatens California’s economy and environment; agricultural offsets reduce climate emissions while delivering additional sources of income to farmers and ranchers in the state.”

Verdeo Group and Devon Energy were also presented with an Innovation award for the development of the first U.S. carbon offset protocol for the oil & gas sector. The protocol provides the quantification requirements to generate carbon offset credits by retrofitting existing high-bleed pneumatic controllers with low-bleed options, thus reducing vented emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, high-bleed pneumatic controllers are among the largest sources of vented methane by equipment type in the U.S. oil & natural gas industry. Two projects under this protocol are currently registered on ACR, and more are in the registration pipeline. ARB estimates that offsets from this project type could generate 15-20 million tons of CO2-equivalent emission reductions by 2015.

“We are very appreciative of ACR’s recognition of the hard work that led to the development and implementation of this first-of-its-kind methodology” said John Savage, managing director at Verdeo.  “We look forward to working with ACR to make offset credits from projects using the methodology available as compliance instruments in CA’s cap-and-trade program.”

The National Forest Foundation (NFF) received the ACR Commitment to Quality award for its dedication to National Forest restoration and stewardship. Chartered by Congress in 1991 as the nonprofit partner of the U.S. Forest Service, NFF promotes the health and public enjoyment of the 193-million-acre National Forest System. NFF has planted over three million trees across the U.S., and recently announced its first reforestation project that will generate verified emission reductions registered on ACR. The project will restore 250 acres of the San Juan National Forest in Colorado destroyed by the 2003 Bear Creek Fire. Offsets generated by the project will be retired on behalf of Chevrolet as part of a larger effort by the company to offset 8 million tons of CO2 emissions over the next few years. The NFF is developing a similar project in California’s Angeles National Forest, which has already begun the ACR registration process.

“We selected American Carbon Registry because of the organization’s extensive knowledge of terrestrial carbon sequestration, understanding of public lands issues, and focus on accountability,” said NFF president Bill Possiel. “We are proud to receive the award and look forward to working with ACR on future forest carbon projects.”

Norfolk Southern was honored with the ACR Corporate Excellence award for its outstanding performance in measuring and reducing its emissions. Norfolk Southern has made a public commitment to reducing CO2 emissions 10% below 2009 levels by 2014 and reached nearly 40% of the five-year goal in the first year. The reductions were achieved through improvements in locomotive fuel efficiency, increased energy efficiency of buildings and railroad facilities, and operating efficiencies that allowed the company to move higher volumes of freight over its 22-state network. In addition to in-house emission reduction activities, in 2011 Norfolk Southern launched Trees and Trains, a $5.6 million partnership with ACR member GreenTrees to restore 10,000 acres in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley by planting six million hardwoods & cottonwoods.

“We appreciate ACR’s recognition of our environmental stewardship,” said Blair Wimbush, vice president real estate and corporate sustainability officer. “Our collaboration with GreenTrees will foster revitalization of the Mississippi Delta’s environmental health and generate economic benefits for a region long served by Norfolk Southern. Our company’s 180-year history tends to give us a long-term perspective, and this kind of sustainable, lasting initiative is exactly what we like to do.”

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The nonprofit American Carbon Registry (ACR), an enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading carbon offset program recognized for its strong standards for environmental integrity. Founded in 1996 as the first private voluntary GHG registry in the world, ACR has set the bar in the global voluntary carbon market for offset quality and operational transparency and continues to lead innovation.

ARLINGTON, Va., October 24, 2011 – The Pinchot Institute and Winrock’s American Carbon Registry (ACR) announced today a partnership to pilot the Forest Health-Human Health Initiative, the world’s first demonstration of linking forest carbon projects with affordable health care services for forest landowners.

The loss of U.S. forestland is estimated at four acres per minute, and family forests are a major contributor. To find out what drives family woodland owners to sell or develop their forestland or harvest timber unsustainably, Senior Pinchot Fellow Catherine Mater conducted extensive research, including interviews of over 1,000 forestland owners and their offspring across the U.S. The findings revealed that one of the leading factors for sale, development or harvesting of family woodlands is to cover unexpected medical or longterm health care expenses.

With the average age of forestland owners now over 75, an estimated 40 million acres of family forests are at risk of being subdivided or completely converted to non-forest uses. The Forest Health-Human Health (FHHH) initiative was developed by Pinchot Institute to propose a solution to this high rate of loss of family-owned woodland due to development, and the unsustainable management or sale of family forestlands, due to unexpected healthrelated financial needs.

“Instead of developing, selling or harvesting their forestland, the Forest Health-Human Health Initiative will provide family forest owners the option to implement sustainable forest management practices to generate carbon offsets,” Mater said. “The revenue from carbon offset sales will be banked to cover health care expenses. The FHHH initiative is specifically tailored to address this link between forest conservation and health care, which is not addressed by existing federal and state programs that promote forest stewardship private lands.”

This creative twist on carbon markets provides forest landowners with greater financial security, helping to keep forest land in the family, even if a catastrophic health event should occur.

Pinchot selected ACR to serve exclusively as the global carbon offset standard and registry for the project. Pinchot Institute President Al Sample stated, “Pinchot selected ACR as our carbon standard and registry partner for the FHHH initiative not only because ACR has an approved IFM (Improved Forest Management) Family Forests methodology, but also because ACR has an established reputation for environmental rigor and workable forest carbon standards popular with a wide range of buyers.” ACR will also work with Pinchot to develop and/or approve new applicable methodologies for carbon offsets, as well as for the measurement of health-related co-benefits of the initiative.

Pinchot has kicked off the pilot phase with family forest landowners in Columbia County, Ore., who will develop projects to store additional carbon in their forests using ACR’s Family Forests IFM methodology. The FHHH pilot project will be among the first to use the new ACR methodology that was developed specifically with family forest owners in mind.

“We’re very excited about the prospects of this new program,” said Scott Russell, a Columbia County landowner and head of the local chapter of the Oregon Small Woodlands Association. “It is the first time that carbon seems like it could make sense for smaller forest landowners and the fact that credits will be used for health care is very attractive.”

There is a huge potential to build on the Oregon pilot and expand the FHHH initiative since family forest owners manage 264 million acres, or 35 percent, of all U.S. forestland. Pinchot will work with project development partners to scale the initiative and demonstrate the links between forest health and human health at the regional and national levels.

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 About the American Carbon Registry

The nonprofit American Carbon Registry (ACR), an enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading carbon offset program recognized for its strong standards for environmental integrity. Founded in 1996 as the first private voluntary registry in the world, ACR has 15 years of experience in the development of rigorous, science-based carbon offset standards and methodologies as well as in carbon offset issuance, serialization and transparent online transaction and retirement reporting.

About the Pinchot Institute for Conservation

The mission of the Pinchot Institute is to strengthen forest conservation thought, policy and action by developing innovative, practical, and broadly-supported solutions to conservation challenges and opportunities. Pinchot Institute accomplishes this through nonpartisan research, education and technical assistance on key issues influencing the future of conservation and sustainable natural resource management.

Contact:

Mary Grady, American Carbon Registry Tel: (805) 884-1961 Email: mgrady@winrock.org

Brian Kittler, Pinchot Institute for Conservation Tel: (503)-836-7880 Email: bkittler@pinchot.org

28 April, 2011 (Hong Kong) – In a landmark transaction for the Ven economy, Hub Culture and a group of partners have successfully completed the first carbon offset trade to be priced in a virtual currency, Ven.

The contract, negotiated by Hub Culture Knowledge Brokerage Services, is for carbon offsets registered on Winrock International’s American Carbon Registry (ACR), which were sold and retired as part of Nike’s Mata no Peito initiative.

Mata no Peito is Nike’s long-term commitment to work with local organizations and communities to protect and replant forests throughout Brazil. Through the sale and retirement of carbon offsets to corporations and individuals seeking to reduce their carbon footprints, Nike will generate funds which it will donate as seed investments to innovative Brazil forestry projects.

With this Hub Culture transaction, the London Carbon Market becomes the first partner in the Mata no Peito initiative, seeding the Nike forestry fund and setting the stage for continuing growth in global Ven trading volumes.

“Nike is pleased to work with Hub Culture to list offsets for sale and retirement that will benefit the Mata no Peito initiative” said Hannah Jones, Nike VP, Sustainable Business and Innovation. “The transparent platform and virtual currency make it easy for partners around the world to become involved in protecting forests throughout Brazil.”

The transaction is the first carbon offset deal to use the Ven currency platform and represents a step forward in the evolution of the Ven global currency for international markets.

“ACR is thrilled to be a part of this revolutionary transaction,”” stated Mary Grady, American Carbon Registry director of business development. “Hub Culture’s facilitation of the first carbon offset sale in Ven together with the fact that proceeds are being donated by Nike to the Mata no Peito Brazil forest fund demonstrate that ACR is working with the right partners to fulfill our mission of harnessing the power of markets to improve the environment.”

Advantages to both parties created by the Ven as the means of exchange for the transaction include greater international pricing stability and an implied carbon offset resulting from the basket of carbon futures, commodities and leading currency components which determine ongoing Ven values. The very use of Ven implies greater demand for future carbon projects, by helping to stimulate demand for carbon futures at large.

“London Carbon Market is proud to donate to the Mata no Peito Brazil forest fund by retiring credits registered by Nike on Winrock’s ACR. As Nike’s first partner in this initiative, we look forward to further involvement with Nike and other partners committed to making sustainable projects a success. Partnering with Hub Culture for the transaction using the Ven currency makes history as the first carbon trade to be priced in the Ven digital currency, a statement of leadership we are proud to be a part of” said Dr. Constantine Pagonis of London Carbon Market.                         

“This Ven transaction highlights the potential of Ven in the carbon markets, and delivers tangible benefits to Brazil through forest related initiatives. As part of our commitment to the creation of a more efficient economy that better tracks externalities, the Ven has particular advantages for everyone, including an embedded carbon signal and forward price stability. We are delighted to be working as a catalyst to connect the London Carbon Market with Nike and Winrock’s groundbreaking work for Brazil.” said Stan Stalnaker, Founding Director at Hub Culture.

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About Hub Culture

Hub Culture is a global network that operates the digital currency Ven, a network of Pavilions to drive community collaboration, and Knowledge Brokerage, a suite of services building value for the community.  Established in 2002, Hub Culture is focused on worth creation and deal generation for over 25,000 global-influencers, and is at the forefront of innovation in work and collaboration.  Learn more at HubCulture.com.  Twitter: @hubculture

About the American Carbon Registry 

The nonprofit American Carbon Registry (ACR), an enterprise of Winrock International, is a leading carbon offset program recognized for its strong standards for environmental integrity.  Founded in 1996 as the GHG Registry by Environmental Resources Trust, ACR has 15 years of experience in the development of rigorous, science-based carbon offset standards and methodologies as well as in carbon offset issuance, serialization and transparent online transaction and retirement reporting. As the first voluntary GHG registry in the world, ACR has set the bar in the global voluntary carbon market for offset quality and operational transparency.

About the London Carbon Market 

London Carbon Market (LCM) champions the wisdom of green investment and social responsibility. LCM has at its foundation a board of directors which has over one hundred years of collective city experience in a spectrum of industries ranging from physical commodities trading, financial futures, and foreign exchange to financial investments. Coupled with socially conscientious blue chip partners, LCM is now at the forefront of the carbon market.

Official short links: http://hub.vg/FVCCT    http://hub.vg/Mata

Contact: Stan Stalnaker, Hub Culture Tel: +44 7974156 458 Email: stan.stalnaker@hubculture.com

Gurps Singh Tel. +44 7403515315 Email: gurps.singh@londoncarbonmarket.com

Mary Grady, American Carbon Registry Tel: 805 884 1961 Email: mgrady@winrock.org