Carbon Rationing Action Groups

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Sample CRAG rules

1. The following are the rules of the – – – – Carbon Rationing Action Group (CRAG), which all members agree to abide by.

2. Membership is open to – – – – (may be open, or based on mmbers of a community organisation, etc)

3. Scope: The scheme includes carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the following sources:
* Home energy use: electricity and ntural gas
* Transport by own car or motorbike
* Air travel.
* The scheme does not include public transport or embodied carbon as there is no easy way to calculate these contributions.

4. The scheme is based on emissions per adult person, not households. Use fractions for part occupation e.g. if an adult is present 6 months of the year, count as 0.5 adults. Children under 5 are not counted. Children aged 5–16 are counted at 0.5 of adult.

5. Emission Calculations. Members will calculate their emissions for the year (year from [date] to [date]) using the carbon calculator at
http://www.carbonequity.info/crags/calculator.html
5b. If a car is shared, members need to either record the kilometres when they are driving, or simply estimate the fraction of the total kilometres that are attributable to them. Travel to and from normal place of work is included, but other business car travel is excluded.
5c. Business flights are excluded because (a) in most cases the employer selects the mode of transport not the employee (b) if Australia were to introduce a national carbon rationing system, companies would be rationed separately from individuals and would have to pay for company travel out of the company carbon ration.

6. The CRAG Administrator will keep a record of all members carbon emissions for the year.

7. Members will agree a target ration for the year. The ration for 2007 is [XX] tonne CO2. (A common figure for CRAGS in the UK is 4.0 tonne CO2/person/year]. Alternatively, for a transitional year while the energy efficiency of houses is improved, the target may be set as a percentage of the previous year's usage, and items 8. and 9. do not apply for the first year.

8. Members will agree a value of CO2 for year. The value for 2007 is ($100) per tonne.

9. At the end of the year, members who have exceeded the ration pay for the excess , and the proceeds become the carbon fund. The carbon fund will be given to a green charity selected by the members.

10. We will encourage others to form their own CRAGs.