Atlanta Forest Defense

$150 carbon credit certificate retiring 0.07806 tons of CO2

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Offset by: Forest Defenders

Carbon Offset: 93034.88 Metric Tons

Remaining: 93034.752 Metric Tons

Vintage: 2023

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Stop Cop City or Defend Atlanta Forest is a decentralized social movement in Atlanta, Georgia. Its goal is to prevent the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center by the Atlanta Police Foundation and the City of Atlanta.

$$ CO_{2 \ tonnes \ sequestered} \times 100_{years} + CO_{2 \ tonnes \ avoided} $$

Methodology

In 2023, the Atlanta Police Department announced their plans to destroy the Weelaunee Forest to make room for a new training compound: “The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center,” later known as “Cop City.” The project was met with resistance from its outset, and activists’ efforts succeeded in shrinking the project’s scope and delaying its construction.

Step 1: Calculate the CO2 impact of the first wave of action

The original proposal for the facility had a footprint of 150 acres of land. As a result of strong public outcry, the city reduced the size of the planned facility by nearly half, shrinking it to a footprint of 85 acres1. (Other sources say the facility will only disturb 77.47 acres of the land)2.

To determine the carbon benefit of this the avoided deforestation, we will calculate the amount of carbon sequestered from the 65 acres of forest saved by the project’s downsizing1.

Given that a 50-year-old oak forest has been estimated to sequester 30,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per acre per year, we can estimate the amount of carbon sequestered by 65 acres of forest annually3.

$$ \begin{aligned} tonnes_{sequestered} &= {pounds_{sequestered} \times acres \over pounds/tonne} \\[5pt] &= {30{,}000 \times 65\over 2205} \\[5pt] &= 885.35 \end{aligned} $$

885.35 metric tonnes of carbon sequestration per year has been preserved.

Step 2: Calculate the net CO2 impact of the ongoing action of the Forest Defenders

PART A: According to one source, the construction of the facility was intended to start in the fall of 20232. The original proposal for the project was approved in September 2021, with plans to build the facility not less than two years after its approval, allowing construction to begin as early as September 20235. Despite the efforts of the activists, the facility was completed and a ribbon cutting ceremony was held on April 29th, 202516. Therefore, our calculations assume a timespan of 759 days (2.08 years), beginning April 1, 2023 and extending to April 29, 2025.

Excluding the amount of CO2 released during the construction process and solely focusing on facility emissions, we can calculate the electric usage of the facility. The average national police precinct electricity intensity is 157 kBtu/sq ft annually. The total footprint of the facility’s buildings are estimated to be 187,206 sq ft2.

$$ \begin{aligned} kWh &= kBtu/sq ft \times sqft_{facility} \times kBtus/Kwhs \\[5pt] &= 157 \times 187{,}206 \times 0.29 \\[5pt] &= 8{,}613{,}752.1 \end{aligned} $$

PART B: To determine the amount of carbon emitted by this amount of energy use, we need to know where that energy is coming from. In Georgia, as of 2021, natural gas accounted for 45% of the state’s total electricity generation, nuclear accounted for 27%, renewable energy accounted for 12%, and coal accounted for 15%7. Atlanta’s energy supply has been cited as using a mixture of these sources as well15. For our calculations, we will assume a similar percentage breakdown for Atlanta to its statewide estimate.

Note that there are plans to double the generating capacity of one of Georgia’s nuclear plants by adding two new reactors, which could reduce this number, but for now we are using the 2021 numbers7.

If we assume that the power used at the facility would be consistent with the average usage in the state, we can estimate the CO2 released per year.

$$ pounds_{CO2} = energySourceContribution \times kWh \times energy_{CO_2} \times conversion $$

Natural Gas: The CO2 generated by burning natural gas is 0.185 kg / kWh 8.

$$ \begin{aligned} poundsGas_{CO2} &= 0.45 \times 8{,}613{,}752.1 \times 0.185 \times 2.2 \\[5pt] &= 1{,}580{,}923.6 \end{aligned} $$

Nuclear: Per kWh produced, nuclear power emits 12 grams of CO29.

$$ \begin{aligned} poundsNuclear_{CO2} &= 0.27 \times 8{,}613{,}752.1 \times 12 \times 0.0022 \\[5pt] &= 61,527.8 \end{aligned} $$

Coal: Burning a pound of coal emits 2.07 pounds of CO211.

$$ \begin{aligned} poundsCoal_{CO2} &= 0.15 \times 8{,}613{,}752.1 \times 2.07 \\[5pt] &= 2{,}674{,}570 \end{aligned} $$

Renewable: Renewable energy sources emit little to no greenhouse gases or pollutants into the air, so for the sake of calculation, we will count this portion as 0 lbs of CO2 emissions 10.

Total: All together, we can estimate the total pounds of CO2 that would likely have been emitted in 2.08 years of operation.

$$ \begin{aligned} totalPounds_{CO2} &= (poundsGas + poundsNuclear + poundsCoal) \times duration \\[5pt] &= (1{,}580{,}923.6 + 61{,}527.8 + 2{,}674{,}570) \times 2.08 \\[5pt] &= 8{,}979{,}404.512 \end{aligned} $$

Converting this to metric tonnes of CO2:

$$ \begin{aligned} tCO_2 &= {8{,}979{,}404.512 \over 2205} \\[5pt] &= 4{,}072.29 \end{aligned} $$

In total, delaying the facility has prevented the emission of approximately 4,072.29 tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere.

Step 3: Calculate the total CO2 impact

When accounting for the carbon tonnes sequestered by the remainder of the forest as well as the delay of the facility’s emissions, the total avoided emissions for the 759 day period would be 4,957.64 tonnes of CO2.

$$ \begin{aligned} tCO_2 &= carbonSequestered + avoidedEmissions \\[5pt] &= 4{,}072.29 + 885.35 \\[5pt] &= 4{,}957.64 \end{aligned} $$

  1. https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/the-birds-stopped-singing-inside-the-battle-for-atlantas-south-river-forest/ ↩↩

  2. https://saportareport.com/officials-fed-up-with-training-center-secrecy-release-permit-application-plan-opposition-resolution/sections/reports/johnruch/ ↩↩↩

  3. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/science/how-many-pounds-of-carbon-dioxide-does-our-forest-absorb.html ↩

  4. https://twitter.com/defendATLforest/status/1523692155768041472 ↩

  5. https://scalawagmagazine.org/2023/05/cop-city-atlanta-history-timeline/ ↩

  6. ​​https://doee.dc.gov ↩

  7. https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=GA ↩↩

  8. https://www.carbonindependent.org/15.html ↩

  9. https://impactful.ninja/the-carbon-footprint-of-nuclear-power/ ↩

  10. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/raising-ambition/renewable-energy ↩

  11. https://www.epa.gov/energy/frequent-questions-epas-greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator ↩

  12. https://defendtheatlantaforest.org/ ↩

  13. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwYUyOZIl93/ ↩

  14. https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/stop-cop-city-protest-atlanta-city-hall ↩

  15. https://www.rsandrews.com/a-closer-look-at-atlantas-electrical-infrastructure/ ↩

  16. https://www.gpb.org/news/2025/04/29/gov-kemp-speaks-at-opening-of-atlanta-public-safety-training-facility/ ↩