The Commons Share Project grew out of the first project, Carbon Share, which was initiated in January 2007 by Mike Sandler. The initial goal was to encourage a carbon market that supports the public trust in the implementation of California’s AB32. The development of Carbon Share coincided with FEASTA’s work on Cap and Share and Peter Barnes’ work on Cap and Dividend. Elinor Ostrom’s work on governing the commons deserves mention as well. By the fall of 2007, Mike continued his work with the Climate Protection Campaign to promote Cap and Dividend, and Commons Share became Mike’s personal project, to archive his and others’ work on public trust allocation. This website was reconfigured in 2017 to include other types of Shares, including Fuel Share, Water Share, Mile Share, and the newest additions, Diet Share and Flight Share.

Mike Sandler is the Commons Share Program Manager. In 2001, Mike co-founded The Climate Center based in Sonoma County, California, and he has worked with cities, governments, water agencies, air quality districts, and the faith community to create and implement actions to address climate change. Mike has helped develop several local government sustainability programs, and is a former Planning Commissioner for the City of Sebastopol. He has a degree in Political Economy from UC Berkeley, and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from UCLA.

Mike Sandler’s Blog Archive at Huffington Post (HuffPost discontinued their contributor platform in January 2018)

Mike Sandler’s Blog at FEASTA (The Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability) (more recent writings)