Baker Institute among finalists for $10M Lone Star Prize to improve Texans’ quality of life

An innovative project proposed by Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy is among the five finalist teams announced today that advance to the next stage of eligibility for the $10 million Lone Star Prize. The Texas-based, statewide competition was launched in early 2020 by Lyda Hill Philanthropies and Lever for Change to improve the lives of Texans and their communities.

The Baker Institute project proposal, titled “Texas Dirt: The Key to Environment, Economy and Resilience,” is focused on transforming the state’s environment through implementation of a soil carbon storage market while growing new economic opportunities for rural Texans.

The project team includes attorney Jim Blackburn, a professor in the practice of environmental law at Rice and co-director of the university’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center (SSPEED); Caroline Masiello, a professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Rice; and Kenneth Medlock, the James A. Baker III and Susan G. Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics and senior director of the Baker Institute’s Center for Energy Studies.

Blackburn and Masiello are Rice faculty scholars at the institute.

Atmospheric accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) contributes to climate change, which disproportionately affects poor and marginalized populations, according to the team.

“Rural communities have long been disadvantaged relative to the urban and industrial centers that are focal points for economic activity and CO2 emissions,” the team wrote in a project description. “A soil carbon market is a Texan approach that addresses both of these issues as part of a long-term solution. We will implement a Texas soil carbon storage market that utilizes photosynthesis to abate atmospheric CO2 by storing it as organic matter in soils of prairies, farms, ranches and grasslands of Texas. This provides an important economic benefit to both landowners and emitters (such as the oil, gas, plastics and petrochemicals industries), as well as a basis for an expanded rural economy. It also benefits Texas’ water supply, contributes to flood resilience in coastal regions, and restores local ecosystems.”

More than 172 proposals were submitted for the Lone Star Prize. Applications were evaluated during a three-month review process by more than 200 peer applicants, philanthropic and civic leaders, and subject matter experts with experience in health, workforce and the environment, among other issue areas. Applications were evaluated based on four criteria: whether they were transformative, scalable, feasible and evidence-based.

The award is being managed by Lever for Change, a nonprofit that helps donors find and fund solutions to the world’s greatest challenges, including racial and gender equity, economic development and climate change.

A final grant recipient will be announced in late spring 2021.

For information about the Baker Institute’s project and its “BCarbon” storage standard, see https://solutions.leverforchange.org/lone-star-prize/texas-dirt and www.bakerinstitute.org/research/bcarbon-new-soil-carbon-storage-standard. For more information about the Lone Star Prize, go to www.lonestarprize.org.