Needham, Mass. ― A local Boston-area resident (and professional architect) has launched a new non-profit corporation, with the dual goals of helping to fight global warming and providing education on environmental issues. The organization is called "One Penny Per Mile, Inc." (OPPM) and, as the name suggests, has a unique formulation geared to help achieve these goals. OPPM will accept donations from automobile drivers at the rate of one penny for every mile driven. The donated funds will be used to develop new energy systems powered by renewable "green" sources, such as the sun and wind. OPPM will accept grant applications from worthy public groups, and will then furnish and install these small-scale energy systems, free of charge, at the grant applicant’s site.  Each energy system will include permanent educational signage and interactive computer-based educational tools, for learning about the operation of the energy-production system.

OPPM has a website located at www.onepennypermile.org. Please visit the OPPM website to learn more about this exciting new venture.  Opportunities exist for volunteers and for ‘early adopter’ contributors.

Each “Early Adopter” contributor will receive a signed and numbered laminated plastic placard to place in the window of their automobile.  Contributors can also choose to make an annual pledge, based upon miles driven.  At this level of participation, each contributor will receive an annual sticker for each year of participation, to be placed in a window on the driver’s automobile.  For a vehicle driven 8750 miles in a year, the annual donation would be $87.50.

OPPM offers automobile owners a means of becoming more aware of the amount of driving that they do.  Automobile use is considered to be one of the major contributors to global warming, through the release of ‘greenhouse gases’ into the atmosphere from vehicle exhaust.  Many people are environmentally aware and work hard to reduce their impact on the earth’s fragile ecosystems.  However, due to lifestyle needs in contemporary society, these same people still need to drive their cars, which they know produce harmful exhaust.  OPPM offers the environmentally-aware driver a way to feel better about the driving that they need to do.  By displaying the OPPM logo, environmentally-aware drivers inform the world of their dedication to reducing their individual ‘carbon footprint’. 

OPPM will use the contributed funds to design, construct, and maintain clean-energy production systems, using solar photovoltaic (PV), wind-turbine, and other renewable sources.  The production of electrical energy using PV, wind and similar technologies helps to reduce carbon emissions by reducing the need for energy produced from the burning of fossil fuels.

The potential for OPPM is huge.  According to the U.S. Dept. of transportation[1], there are currently more than 230 million passenger cars, motorcycles, and light trucks in the USA.  If only a small percentage of these vehicles (and their owners) donate to “One Penny Per Mile”, the resulting funding could lead to a rapid increase in the awareness and implementation of clean, renewable, alternative energy production systems.

OPPM is a registered non-profit corporation by the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

OPPM has been approved as a 501 (c) (3) Public Charity by the IRS.  Contributions are fully tax-deductible. 


Reference:

1- www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_11.html  and  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_vehicles_in_the_United_States#_note-BTS1 Printed on 100 percent post consumer waste recycled paper.  Staples Item #620016.