Austin Stahl | as506610@ohiou.edu | @AustinStahl24
Since today's stories are similar and both so awesome, I'm going to keep it simple with just two. Both deal with efforts to fight both global poverty and climate change, two very noble causes. Climate change also disproportionately affects the poor because they lack access to the infrastructure, technology, and resources that protect us from extreme weather and allow us to keep crop production at a stable level.
1. "Combating Climate Change and Global Poverty in One Fell Swoop"
A innovative new organization looks to tackle global poverty with reforestation projects that bring money into poor third-world communities. At the same time, these large forests capture carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. The nonprofit, called Carbon Offsets to Alleviate Poverty (COTAP), is "the only 501(c)3 public charity in the United States that simultaneously tackles global poverty alleviation and climate change abatement," according to the article. Read on to see how you can become part of this amazing cause.
2. "Peru's coffee growers turn carbon traders to save their farms from climate change"
Adopting a similar strategy, Peruvian coffee growers are receiving carbon credits for every ton of carbon their forests capture. They will then sell them later on the global market, addressing climate change while boosting the local economy in a developing country.
