Shannon Barrett is the new Advancement Director at Dogwood Alliance. “One of the things that really attracted me to the position is the thoughtfulness that’s gone into planning where Dogwood goes next,” she explains, adding that it is a very exciting time for Dogwood because the organization is poised to go to the next level.
So, how is it that utility companies in Europe can get away with claiming offsets without having to verify and validate those claims? Why are they not held to the same globally-recognized set of standards as everyone else? Why do they get to take credit today for an offset that is not likely to accrue for decades into the future, if it even happens at all? Where is the legally-binding agreement to keep the carbon stored in the forest for 100+ years? And, perhaps most disturbing of all, how are the utility companies taking credit for (and reaping the value of) the carbon stored in someone else’s forests without paying the forest owners? This double standard is beyond troublesome.
It was mid-October, the Fall Break of my sophomore year at Duke, and I spent the weekend visiting Asheville and camping in Pisgah National Forest. I immediately fell in love with the city and the mountains and forests that surround it, and I knew that I would eventually have to make Asheville my home. Through the Stanback internship program and Dogwood Alliance, I had the lucky opportunity to do so this summer—while protecting some of the very trees that brought me here in the first place.
As a 24-year old professional degree candidate, I suppose it’s pretty unusual that I am actually doing my first ever internship. Being excited and somewhat nervous, I brought my suits and high-heels with me. Well, it turned out that I worried too much. The city is so Bohemian, which means literally everyone is more casual than you might be; and luckily Dogwood Alliance cares more about your performance than your appearance.
My internship developing a business plan for the selling of carbon credits in the virtual carbon market was such a novel thing for me. I was totally obsessed with the idea during my interview for the internship with Andrew Goldberg, Dogwood Alliance’s Director of Corporate Engagement. To explore a completely new field and really contribute my own effort to the project was a dream for me, and what I got as an intern in Dogwood Alliance is far greater than that.
