Earth Protect Blog

By Deborah Swearingen

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Local governments are joining forces to pool resources and fund carbon dioxide removal projects in the West.

The partnership, called the 4 Corners Carbon Coalition, was established by Boulder County and Flagstaff, Ariz. Salt Lake City and Santa Fe have now joined. Boulder County and Flagstaff invested seed funding to launch the coalition with the goal of spurring regional carbon dioxide removal innovation to fight climate change.

Together the coalition members will work to provide money to accelerate projects and business development.

“The 4 Corners Carbon Coalition is a living example of how local governments are working together to tackle the climate crisis,” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said from Boulder County.

According to a news release, carbon dioxide removal describes diverse processes on land and at sea that take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and lock it away in geological, biological and synthetic formations for decades, centuries or millennia.

Cutting fossil-fuels emissions is necessary but is no longer sufficient to curb the worst effects of climate change, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change notes.

In addition to staff time and leadership invested into launching the coalition, Boulder County has spent $30,000 on consultant support from carbon scientists at Carbon Direct and the Open Air Collective to launch a guide outlining best practices to support local governments in this sector, Climate Communications Specialist Christian Hermann wrote in an email.

The county also is committed to funding $100,000 or more for the first round of grants for projects that integrate carbon dioxide removal with real-world concrete production in the region, he noted.

According to information from Princeton, cement manufactur ing makes up 8% of overall global emissions.

“We’ve heard from the community that creating alternatives to traditional, high-carbon cement is a priority, and we are responding to that feedback,” Hermann wrote.

The partnership among representatives from the 4 Corners group is particularly timely and important given the urgency of the climate crisis.

“Less than a year ago, the most devastating fire in Colorado history destroyed over 1,000 homes in our community,” Boulder County Commissioner Matt Jones stated in the release. “Boulder County knows all too well the catastrophic impacts of climate change, which is why we are thrilled to partner with other local governments to fight the climate crisis through carbon dioxide removal. The 4 Corners Carbon Coalition will take action to develop and test real world projects to address the enormous challenge we face.”

An Oct. 19 webinar will provide details on the upcoming proposal request and application process. Visit 4cornerscarbon.org for more information or to sign up for the webinar.