Can $5000 Save the World?

Can a challenge thrown down in a business college classroom make a real difference in the world? The jury is still out, but the challenge has been taken up and by some very determined and talented individuals.

Can five thousand dollars save the world?

By

Jamie Beckett

    In October of 2004, Dr. Karl Ulrich walked into his class at the Wharton school at the University of Pennsylvania with a challenge for his 41 students. He was accompanied by a check for five thousand dollars. If his students were successful, Ulrich’s challenge might change not only their lives, but indirectly the lives of every other human on the planet as well.
    The five thousand dollars was seed money.
    You’ve just got to love a teacher who puts his investment capital where his lectures are.
    The result of that class project has turned into a world beater of an idea called TerraPass. No longer restricted to the classroom, or limited to the involvement of fewer than four dozen people, Dr. Ulrich’s idea has taken shape as a bold, global initiative.  The lean, sharply focused team at the helm of this enterprise is taking both industry and individuals where they perhaps never saw themselves going before. And they’re doing it with style and integrity. 
    While Washington alternately quibbles and panders over who might be most at fault for the current price of petroleum products, the crew at TerraPass is asking a far more reasonable, and infinitely more compelling question. Who’s going to clean up the tons of carbon dioxide blowing out the tailpipes of our cars?
    Their answer, which is far more to the point than anything to come out of an elected officials office in modern memory, is easy. You can!
    Traditionally, the public has been lulled into a complacency that suggests only huge government backed agencies, with multi billion dollar budgets fueled by evermore taxpayer dollars can tackle an issue as ominous as global warming. Not true, says TerraPass.  Each and every one of us can make a significant dent by simply taking personal responsibility for the carbon dioxide produced by our own cars. The solution is even fairly inexpensive when broken down into individual contributions.
    A TerraPass can be purchased for as little as $29.95, effectively rendering the automobile the pass is affixed to, carbon neutral. Passes are priced based on the type of vehicle they’re being purchased for and consideration is given to the amount of carbon dioxide those vehicles are expected to produce annually. Owners of fuel efficient, hybrid vehicles can sport the aforementioned lowest cost TerraPass. Additional class ratings for Efficient, Standard and even Utility/Performance vehicles fill out the TerraPass inventory of noble intentions.
    Understandably, each larger, less efficient vehicle class requires an appropriately higher outlay of cash to purchase. But even the top of the line Utility/Performance TerraPass is reasonably priced at $79.95 per annum. That equates to roughly the cost of a single tank of gas.
    The upshot being that with a TerraPass sticker gracing your vehicle, you can drive even the most decadent, fuel sucking beast on the block with a smile on your face and a song in your heart. You will have stepped firmly into the, “I’m part of the solution,” crowd. Hold your head high, TerraPassers. You’re the good guys, there’s no doubt.
    So how exactly does TerraPass convert dollars into a cleaner environment? The exhaust blowing out of my cars tailpipe doesn’t smell any sweeter. What’s the deal here?
    In short, they invest TerraPass earnings in clean energy. By purchasing carbon credits and renewable energy certificates with subscribers dollars, the company is able to fund renewable sources of energy. Those green kilowatt hours offset the carbon emissions created by soccer moms and rush hour commuters, effectively cancelling them out. It’s a wash.
    Granted, no amount of TerraPass sales will result in a squeaky clean environment, free from pollution of all sorts. But the business plan is a remarkably strong step in the right direction. At long last, individuals have a method of banding together effectively to make a political statement that has real teeth. We’re ready for a cleaner world. And if the governments of the world aren’t going to get serious about it, perhaps it’s time  the people did, one by one by one.
    Last week TerraPass announced they’d entered into a partnership of sorts with Ford, a company that TerraPass chief environmental officer Tom Arnold points out has had the worst fuel economy of any American auto manufacturer. On the other hand, Arnold adds, “We love the Ford Escape hybrid.” A greener SUV type of vehicle that Ford intends to spearhead their goal of putting 250,000 hybrids on the road by 2010.
    Granted, TerraPass is a long way from achieving their ultimate goal, but they’re less than two years into their quest, too. So far, this young, vibrant crew appears to be making real headway on a serious global problem.
    Under the circumstances it’s hard not to jump up and cheer, or at least buy a TerraPass of your own.

Winter Haven resident Jamie Beckett can be contacted via e-mail at: [email protected]  
   

Reviews

[Edmund Jonah]

Did the cheque walk in with him? (amused chuckle!) Say he brought a cheque with him or carried it in his hand, but certainly not accompanied him!

I can't see where you answered the question in the title of your essay? What did the professor do with the cheque? What do you mean by seed money? What exactly was his idea? What was the class project? How did it start TerraPass? Why do you force your readers to ask questions?

The answer to this would be to convert to battery operated motor cars. But the financial interests of too many are involved. Can you imagine how many people in the oil industry would go bankrupt? And the high cost of turning all Petrol (Gas) Stations to battery changing and charging stations? TerraPass appears to me a stop-gap issue, just to appease the oil industry. So, I feel you would make a much stronger point if you advocated a change to electric cars - or even hybrids (which you don't explain in your article).

You tend to write as though you had axioms in your head that everyone must know. For instance, the professor and the cheque. You would be surprised to realize how few people have sufficient general knowledge to know what a hybrid is.

Think about it.

For me, this article is too weak. I may be wrong and a first step is just the thing, but how many people will go for it? That's the 64,000 dollar question.

[Angel Marie Antoinette]

So...this exists? Sounds like a good idea.. I'd get a pass...if I had a car. I know it's possible to find us a new source...I just think that some don't want Gas to become today's Coal (even though it's still used...not as much)...If we could only make gas from hemp and then have it burning clean fuel.

[Magnolia Belle]

Jaimie - hi! What a breath of fresh air - a viable solution! Yea! I hope it works to its fullest potential and does not get bogged down by bean counters and politicians (who smell money from great distances).