Lyft to offset emissions from rides with projects combating climate change

The move comes as Lyft and Uber Technologies Inc , as well as bike-share and scooter-renting startups, face scrutiny for clogging city streets and sidewalks, worsening traffic.

The company will purchase carbon “offsets” to support projects such as renewable energy and reforestation, balancing the carbon impact of every mile driven by a car working for Lyft, including the miles driven to pick up a passenger. That will be a multi-million dollar investment in the first year and the cost will rise as Lyft grows.

“This in a sense puts a tax on ourselves to continue to move toward shared rides and lower emission vehicles,” said Lyft Co-founder and President John Zimmer in an interview.

Lyft said in a statement it is working with environmental firm 3Degrees, which sources carbon reduction projects. Lyft will tap its more than $4 billion in venture capital funding to pay for the carbon offsets.

Initial carbon-offset projects funded by Lyft include an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emission from an auto parts factory in Michigan by using alternative materials and recycling transformer oil in Ohio.

“It’s really important that we know what the projects are, that they are real and tangible and that they would not have happened otherwise,” Zimmer said.

Lyft’s carbon-neutral effort is the latest example of a Silicon Valley company working to mitigate some of the harm its services have caused. This week, Airbnb announced its Office of Healthy Tourism, aimed at easing crowding from tourism that has plagued cities such as Barcelona and Amsterdam, a problem exacerbated by Airbnb.

Zimmer acknowledged “traffic is a major issue” and said the company also has plans to invest in electric autonomous vehicles and expand its carpooling service.

Source: Reuters