Energy Coordinating Agency

Slowing Global Warming by Helping

Low Income Philadelphians Save Energy

By Liz Robinson, Executive Director, Energy Coordinating Agency of Philadelphia

Confronting Climate Change: Philadelphia, like many cities across the globe, is coming to grips with Climate Change. More than half of Philadelphia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings, with homes comprising 65% of the square footage. That puts home energy conservation at the top of the list of ways we can help slow global warming.

As we reach global peak production of oil and natural gas, energy prices will continue to rise. Heating oil and natural gas prices have more than doubled in the last four years, and have just increased again in Philadelphia. Energy has become unaffordable, not just for many low income families, but for many working poor and elderly persons on pensions as well. As a social and environmental justice issue, having access to affordable, clean energy and water is becoming critical in many nations, including our own. We need a massive investment in affordable, clean energy to avert widespread human suffering and social injustice as energy prices climb out of reach for more and more Americans. The answer lies in providing energy conservation and solar energy services on a very large scale to meet home energy needs.

Community Carbon Trust: In order to provide energy conservation services to more of Philadelphia’s low income households, ECA has launched “Community Carbon Trust”, a carbon offsets program through which ECA is selling carbon offsets produced through energy conservation work in low income homes. In 2006, ECA weatherized 1931 homes. These energy conservation measures, during their useful life, will prevent 68 tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere.

While selling carbon offsets is not new, most of the organizations currently selling offsets are planting trees, or investing in renewable energy projects like wind energy or biomass. ECA is very mindful of the fact that Americans consume more energy per capita than any nation on earth. Less than 5% of the world’s population, we consume 25% of the world’s oil and gas, and emit far more carbon dioxide per capita than any other nation. It will not be possible to stabilize the climate unless and until the United States reduces its carbon footprint. There are many ways to do this, but none is more important than reducing energy use in buildings.

What are the rules of carbon trading?

The offset must be real. ECA’s conservation programs are evaluated by independent, third party evaluators in order to determine the level of energy savings they produce. In some cases, the programs are evaluated every year. All of ECA’s program evaluations are posted on our website at www.ecasavesenergy.org.

The offset must be owned by the party selling it. ECA asks all our customers and clients to sign over the emissions avoided from our conservation services. Because we do so much of this work, we can aggregate all these emission reductions into a quantity large enough to trade.

The offset cannot be sold more than once. ECA is adhering to the rules created by the Gold Standard certification and has created a database of carbon offsets which insures the offsets are sold only once.

The offset must pass the “additionality test”. The offset (in ECA’s case, the energy savings) would not have occurred but for the carbon credits. ECA is selling carbon offsets to fund new conservation services for people who cannot afford to pay for energy conservation work.

Who is the Energy Coordinating Agency?: ECA is a 23 year old non-profit, dedicated to helping people conserve energy and promoting a sustainable and socially equitable energy future for all in the Philadelphia region. ECA has a comprehensive approach to resolving the energy problems of low income households, by providing access to energy conservation, education, and bill payment assistance through a citywide network of grassroots organizations called Neighborhood Energy Centers, each of which serves as a “one-stop-shop” for low income energy services, and each of which is located in the heart of the community they serve. Last year, ECA and its 13 NECs provided more than 50,000 energy services to more than 20,000 low income households in Philadelphia.

While bill payment assistance is critical to prevent the loss of utility service, ECA has always believed that energy conservation and education are the most valuable of its services for low income families and the environment. Energy conservation results in a healthier, more comfortable and more affordable home, usually repairing faulty windows and doors, often repairing leaking roofs, and more often than you would think, eliminating a source of carbon monoxide or a hazardous electrical wiring condition.

Green Collar Jobs for Philadelphia: Conservation is also the most labor intensive of all energy sources. ECA has found that energy conservation is an excellent way to bring African American, Hispanic, Asian and other residents of Philadelphia’s low income neighborhoods into stable green collar jobs. By providing training on an on-going basis, ECA is creating a career ladder into highly technical jobs with a bright future.

We Need Your Support: Buying carbon offsets from ECA will:

• Lower your own carbon footprint
• Reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions in Philadelphia and the world
• Help stabilize the climate and slow global warming
• Create green collar jobs for minority youth and adults
• Spur local economic development
• Increase energy affordability for low income Philadelphians
• Increase economic and social equity in the city

For more information on ECA’s “Community Carbon Trust” click here or contact Pam Carunchio at 215-988-0929 ext 257 or

For information about the average American's carbon footprint click here.
Energy Services Provided by ECA in 2006-7
To calculate your own carbon footprint: www.carbonfootprint.com/ or
www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html
For general information on carbon offsets: www.tufts.edu/tie/tci/carbonoffsets/index.htm