Project comment response – October 14, 2009
All Terrapass projects undergo a public comment period while they are being evaluated for inclusion in our portfolio, so that the general public can provide feedback and ask questions. Below is Terrapass’ response to the comments received for the Red Hills wind farm in Elk City Oklahoma.
This project’s comment period was open from August 6 to September 11, 2009. We publicized the open comment period in a blog post, including the blog summary email which was distributed to over 25,000 active recipients. We received three comments during this time.
Two were statements of general support for the project. The third was a criticism of the lack of information provided: “It is very difficult to make any comments about the project if you don’t publish PDD or you don’t specify which standard you are using.”
We agree that it would be easier to evaluate the project if the standard or project description document were available in advance. We have chosen in this case not include this information for two reasons:
- We have been criticized in the past for associating projects with a standard prior to there being a definitive association such as a validation or a verification. It looks to some people like we are trying to advertise compliance to a standard when compliance is not yet certain.
- The project owner is excited about this project’s possible acceptance by the Standard; they preferred that we maintain confidentiality so that they can make a public announcement if the project successfully validates.
We apologize for any confusion this causes. Rest assured that we will not contract with the project unless it successfully completes the carbon standard acceptance and verification processes.