Pedal power: Cycle squads going green

Discovery Channel team paying Austin firm to offset carbon output.

In the most recent twist on the carbon-neutral movement, a Tour de France cycling team is offsetting its carbon dioxide emissions through a renewable energy company in Austin, Texas.

Technically, the bicyclists for the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team — which has an office in Austin and featured Lance Armstrong on its roster when he won his seventh and final Tour de France in 2005 — emit only as much carbon dioxide as they exhale while pedaling through France this month. But behind and in front of them lurk the support vehicles that carry coaches, water and spare rims — and spew pollutants from their tailpipes.

That's why the Discovery Channel team is paying Austin's Green Mountain Energy Co. to offset the estimated 62 tons of carbon dioxide generated by the race support vehicles during the team's cycling season. The savings is equivalent to bicycling instead of driving a car more than 151,000 miles — or about the same distance as riding the Tour de France 68 times, according to Green Mountain Energy.

Carbon dioxide emissions are thought to contribute to global climate change, and the sports world is starting to join the effort to counteract the effects of those emissions on the environment. The United Nations Environment Programme has launched a "Be a Champion for the Environment" poster campaign. In one poster, 2006 Olympic gold medalist Shaun White asks, "If global warming turns the mountains to summer, where am I supposed to snowboard?"

Neither the Discovery Channel team nor Green Mountain would say exactly how much the team is paying, but it can cost as little as $14 to offset a ton of carbon dioxide, said Gillan Taddune, chief environmental officer at Green Mountain. At that rate, the multimillion-dollar cycling operation would pay $868 for the 62-ton offset.

The money will go to supplying new energy efficiency equipment to schools in Portland, Ore., and a reforestation program in California, Taddune said. The team will also pay for the planting of 30 trees in California's Mendocino National Forest every time a Discovery Channel rider wins a stage or wears one of the race's special jerseys; as of Friday, the team's Vladimir Gusev had earned the white jersey for best young rider after all six stages.

Other pro cycling teams have gotten in on the carbon-neutral movement. The Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team and Team Clif Bar Midwest, which compete in North American races, have also paid to offset their carbon emissions.

"Cycling is fortunately a green activity and a green sport," said Stuart Wade, a spokesman for the Discovery Channel team. "Our intention is to spread awareness."

He said the team might offset its air travel and electricity consumption at team headquarters in Austin and Belgium in the future.