By Matt Whittaker / NewsBreak Denver
(Lakewood, Colo.) A Denver-area company provided carbon offsets for the Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas Friday that pits the University of Southern California Trojans against the University of Utah Utes.
United Green Energy, a subsidiary of Lakewood-based energy marketing and logistics company United Energy Trading, sold carbon offsets to Oregon-based Pacific Seafood to neutralize the emissions from the game.
The offsets cover air and road transportation, stadium facility operations and other aspects related to the game for both universities and traveling staff, event operations staff and other Pac-12 representatives in attendance. Fans can buy carbon credits to offset their own emissions at www.pac12teamgreen.com.
“Our partnership with the Pac-12 to offset carbon emissions generated by their championship game sets an important precedent for the sustainability of events like this,” said United Green Energy executive chairman Tom Williams. “Utilizing carbon offsets from verified projects is a key element in the battle against climate change.”
In the carbon offset industry, companies like United Green Energy purchase greenhouse gas reductions from sustainability projects and package them into carbon credits to sell to organizations to help them achieve their own climate goals or those of others, as is the case with Pacific Seafood.
The lead project contributing carbon credits for the Pac-12 title game is the BigCoast Forest Climate Initiative in coastal British Columbia, Canada. Run by logging company Mosaic Forest Management, the initiative defers harvesting on nearly 100,000 acres of private land for at least 25 years, increasing carbon storage and avoiding 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.