How Classic Car Owners Can Carbon Offset Their Vintage Rides To Soften Their Environmental Effect

Whether one is a vintage car aficionado or is just holding tenaciously onto a well-worn, high mileage model for economic or sentimental reasons, an older vehicle that gets fewer mpg and is old enough to lack anti-pollution hardware will surely emit more harmful tailpipe emissions than would a newer model.

Congress passed the Clean Air Act back in 1970 that gave the Environmental Protection Agency the power to regulate pollution from cars and other forms of transportation. More than half a century later the EPA says that today’s passenger vehicles emit 98-99% fewer pollutants than they did prior to regulation.

This creates something of a conundrum among environmentally conscious classic car enthusiasts who own and drive own one or more memorable models that tend to spew spewing higher levels of greenhouses gases into the atmosphere that current standards allow.

Fortunately, there is a way to help those owning older vintage vehicles reduce their carbon footprints, and it’s one that large corporations have been using for years.

The classic car insurer Hagerty in Traverse City, MI just launched its voluntary ECO program (it stands for Enthusiast Carbon Offset) that enables vintage vehicle owners to purchase carbon offsets designed to reduce the net effects their environmentally unfriendly rides have on the atmosphere in general and climate change in particular.

“We believe the love of driving and the love of our planet can and must co-exist,” says Hagerty CEO McKeel Hagerty. “As part of our long-term environmental strategy, we are committed to helping automotive enthusiasts responsibly make a difference with simple and affordable steps such as this program.”

Those enrolling in the ECO program will be able to calculate their models’ adverse impact via an online tool provided by Chrome Carbon, a reforestation company that specializes in carbon reduction for auto enthusiasts. Owners begin by entering information on their vehicles and the number of annual miles they’re looking to offset by having trees planted locally in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. The organization works closely with national forest agencies, local forest experts, and area farmers to ensure the right trees are planted and cared for in the most relevant locations.

While collectible cars are responsible for only a fraction of CO2 greenhouse gas emissions produced by vehicles globally, they still have a negative net effect on the ecosystem to consider.

Hagerty data shows that an older car rated at 15 mpg and driven for just 1,000 miles over the course of a year year is responsible for an average 1,284 pounds of CO2 emissions. Meanwhile, every tree planted as an offset can reportedly absorb 48 pounds of carbon emissions when mature and create 260 pounds of oxygen annually. That would mean having to plant 27 trees to offset the above vehicle’s carbon footprint.

There is a nominal charge involved, though no fees or revenue are retained by Hagerty. The offset cost is based on the vehicle, one’s driving habits, and its annual fuel consumption, which in the above example would amount to around $33.70 in planted trees per year.

For its part, Hagerty pledges to offset all emissions from its classic fleet and driving events, which recently included the California Mille and Greenwich Concours Driving Tour.

Additional information on Hagerty’s carbon offset program can be found here.