Climate Change

All of us will be impacted by global climate change, but small businesses and low-income families may be particularly hard-hit. These populations are least able to cope with the higher energy prices that could be induced by policies to counter climate change. They've also typically been left out of innovative, cost-effective environmental initiatives.

SF Community Power has developed a pilot initiative to explore ways for small businesses and low-income families to beneficially participate in emerging solutions to climate change, improving their environmental and economic conditions along the way. Prelimary results from the pilot, which was sponsored in part by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, are promising. Click here to read the report and here to read news coverage of it.

SF Community Power is working with low income families and small
businesses on developing verifiable ways of reducing greenhouse gas and criteria pollutants.

Under the Climate for Community Pilot Initiative, SF Community Power is demonstrating that businesses and individuals can verifiably reduce their polluting air and greenhouse gas emissions, in ways that can be sold on emerging carbon trading markets. The pilot is intended to provide state and federal policymakers with an effective approach to helping vulnerable populations "do well by doing good."

As part of the pilot SF Community Power is providing free comprehensive environmental audits to participating Bay Area businesses and families. Audit results will help us understand the ways in which small businesses and low income households manage their use of electricity, natural gas, the local transportation system, and assorted products, as well as the resulting waste stream. Following the audits participants will be offered a host of low- and no-cost emission reduction strategies, such as retiring and replacing inefficient appliances, lighting, and vehicles with more environmentally benign technologies, and transitioning to non-toxic cleaning products.

For additional information about our Climate for Community program, please contact us at (415) 626-8723 or visit our project partner: Environmental Defense Fund at www.edf.org/C4C

We welcome inquiries from:

• Businesses, individuals, or families who would like to participate in the pilot
• Funders that would like to support the initiative
• Suppliers who would like to contribute an emission-reducing service or product to the pilot.