2002 Winter Olympics Zeros Out Air Pollution

First, the Madison, Wisconsin-based Leonardo Academy was hired to estimate air emissions from the games, including those from facilities, equipment (such as ski lifts), and all travel (including the torch relay). “We are the first Olympics ever to calculate our impact on air quality before the games,” claims David Workman, Environment Program Manager for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. “We had put together an air quality plan that they used to calculate emissions.”

Enter DuPont, with a donation of 120,000 tons (109,000 tonnes) of CO2 equivalent in greenhouse gas reductions, and Kennecott Corporation, with offsets for criteria air pollutants, and—voilà!—the Games are emissions-free. In fact, “We have now exceeded our zero-net emissions goal for greenhouse gases by more than three times,” says Workman. Waste Management, Inc. was another major contributor of greenhouse gas credits. The company had accumulated credits from the capture and use of methane from landfills, among other measures.