CSRwire Member Spotlight: Center for Resource Solutions

By CSRwire Staff Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) is a national nonprofit dedicated to providing innovative and efficient solutions to major climate change issues. Through institutional collaborations and extensive input from stakeholders, CRS is managing to integrate programs designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across an impressively broad spectrum, from renewable energy to greenhouse gas reductions to energy efficiency. The San Francisco–based company has made tremendous progress in encouraging consumers’ interests in the voluntary renewable energy and carbon markets by instituting consumer protection programs that provide rigorous standards for quality and transparency. For the last decade, CRS’s renewable energy certification program Green-e Energy has been the leading certifier for voluntary green power purchases by consumers and businesses. Green-e Energy distinguishes itself by requiring the highest level of environmental quality in certified products, as well as high levels of transparency on the part of sellers of certified green power, ensuring that customers are getting the full environmental benefit they’re paying for. CRS kicked off the month of April with the announcement that the ’09 Sustainable Manufacturing Summit will be Green-e Marketplace Certified, meaning that the organizers bought 100% renewable energy for the event. In addition to further promoting the value of certified renewable energy to industry leaders, this development ensures that the event itself, thanks to CRS, will put into practice the principles and aims that will be discussed there. CRS also announced at the beginning of April that Wabash Valley Power Association (WVPA) has been certified by Green-e Energy, making WVPA the first Indiana-based company to participate in the program. WVPA’s Green-e Energy certification means that wholesale electricity coming from a renewable energy source will be distributed to suppliers in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio. Yet another exciting news topic of the month for CRS is that BurstNET Technologies, Inc has joined Green-e Marketplace. BurstNET Technologies, Inc., which is based in Scranton, PA, will meet its US customers’ annual needs with 100% renewable, wind-generated energy. Over the years the Green-e logo has become a strong symbol for numerous businesses and institutions of the importance of doing more for the environment than is mandated by public policy or law. In keeping with its mission to be a leader in developing solutions for solving the planet’s climate change problems, CRS’s accomplishments extend into providing policy guidance. Chris Busch, CRS’s Policy Director since late February, is leading efforts at the state and regional levels in electricity and carbon policy, linking CRS to the heart of the country’s renewable energy future. It is significant that CRS is headquartered in California and active in state-level green energy initiatives, as is evidenced by that state’s truly overwhelming clean energy stats: $1.7 billion was drawn in clean tech venture capital in 2007, aimed at research and development in alternative energy. That’s 45% of all North American venture capital investment and more than all of Europe combined. CRS’s vision is multi-faceted, and the scope of the company’s services and contributions reflects that. While the urgency of reducing destructive greenhouse gas emissions in a very small period of time (a few decades), if we are to avoid unprecedented global catastrophe, is obviously a predominant motivation, CRS’s vision of the advantages of clean energy extends to other benefits as well, including improvements in health, job creation, and domestic energy supplies. In their own description of their Climate Policy they describe the “non-climate related benefits” of their “climate solution strategy.” These include: better overall air quality, improvements in public health resulting in lower health care costs, economic development through domestic investment in new clean industries, improved energy security, and a diversified energy supply less vulnerable to fossil fuel price spikes. (http://www.resource-solutions.org/progs_policy.html) When it comes to guiding policymakers, CRS, with support from the Energy Foundation, extends its reach across the full spectrum of regional, State, and federal levels. CRS is also engaged in providing technical assistance to the Chinese government, through collaboration with Ryan Wiser at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in the form of developing clean energy policies. Finally, CRS is a great clean energy educational resource for the public. In April alone, CRS hosted and participated in public events on renewable energy policy and the renewable energy market in San Francisco, San Diego, New York City, and Washington D.C., as well as other major cities. For more information about CRS, see http://www.resource-solutions.org or contact Jeff Swenerton at 415-561-2100 and jeff@resource-solutions.org.