NASCAR commits to reach net-zero carbon operating emissions by 2035

NASCAR is committing to reaching net-zero carbon operating emissions by 2035, as the racing property sets its most ambitious goals yet in the sustainability realm. The announcement came this morning ahead of Earth Day being held this weekend, and the new environmental initiative will be one part of a new umbrella platform called NASCAR Impact that will encompass several goodwill efforts by the sport. NASCAR within the next five years commits to introduce a new sustainable fuel that cars will race on, build EV charging ports at its owned venues and source 100% renewable electricity for those facilities. By 2035, NASCAR says it will reduce to zero all of its carbon emissions that qualify as "scope 1" or "scope 2," which are the pollutions that are directly attributable to a company's operations.NASCAR previously had a go-green initiative that started in 2008 called NASCAR Green, but the scope of that prior program was less ambitious than NASCAR Impact. The move comes at a time when many sports entities are assessing their environmental impact and some other racing organizations have made similar goals: F1 has said that it is aiming to become carbon neutral by 2030. Other initiatives that will fall under the new NASCAR Impact umbrella will be DEI, volunteering and community engagement. NASCAR Chief Communications & Impact Officer Eric Nyquist told SBJ this morning: "Our goal is simple: It's to drive a meaningful impact in the places where we live and race. And part of that is our commitment to sustainability by 2035."EMISSIONS TEST: To understand how much emissions it was letting into the atmosphere and set a baseline to measure future goals against, NASCAR says it conducted a comprehensive assessment earlier this year. That included measuring the emissions coming from its offices, tracks, races and overall operations. The Daytona Beach-based racing property says it will measure the progress it is making on an annual basis and release it in a NASCAR Impact report that also will note progress in things like DEI, sourcing and procurement and how it is working with schools across America on STEM education programs.Read the original article here.