Michael Oxman and Beril Toktay Contribute to Georgia’s First-Ever Framework for Carbon Reduction

An article published on April 22 by the Ivan Allen College for Liberal Arts highlights the contributions of Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business leadership in a collaborative effort to find solutions to reduce Georgia’s carbon emissions by 2030. The article, “Georgia Tech Leads Team Effort to Reduce Georgia’s Carbon Footprint,” discusses the work of Center Faculty Director Beril Toktay and Center Managing Director Michael Oxman, along with Marilyn Brown, principal investigator and professor of public policy, and Kim Cobb, professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, on the core team for Georgia Drawdown. The faculty are working with researchers and scholars from Georgia Tech and other universities in the state to create a comprehensive framework for carbon reduction measures that are not only impactful but also economically sustainable.

Georgia Drawdown, launched by the Ray C. Anderson Foundation, is inspired by Project Drawdown, a global initiative to help the world reach the point where levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to decline—as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible.

The Georgia Drawdown team systematically evaluated the 102 climate solutions listed by Project Drawdown and identified the 21 most viable options for Georgia. The proposed solutions, which are now being researched in more depth, include broader use of solar farms, community-scale solar efforts, widespread adoption of electric vehicles, and retrofitting buildings. In addition to their work on the core team, Professors Oxman and Toktay teamed up with Laura Taylor, professor and chair of the School of Economics at Georgia Tech and David Iwaniec, assistant professor of urban studies at Georgia State University, to analyze the solutions from the perspective of their “beyond carbon” impacts on public health, equity, and the economy. They are supported in this work by the Partnership for Southern Equity, Southface, and The Greenlink Group.