Does Online Venting Contribute To Greenhouse Gases?
I don’t really listen to the radio much except when I’m in the car, commuting to or between clients. Yesterday, I was listening to this talk show on the local NPR station, and they were discussing global warming and the concept of carbon offsets. The idea is, when you’re feeling guilty about some personal act of carbon transgression, you can go out and purchase some degree of conscience-salve and declare yourself “carbon-neutral”.
Perhaps the most famous example of this gambit was last year when it was disclosed that Al Gore’s house turned out to be an energy-guzzling behemoth, and his spokespeople indignantly declared that he purchased carbon offsets, so there! That was the first time I’d heard of it.
I think it’s a sign of progress that people are starting to be conscious of the effects of their personal actions on the environment, but it’s so paradigmatic of our culture that we try to invent mechanisms to buy our way out of changing our behavior. It’s very similar to the practice of purchasing of indulgences in the Catholic church of the 1500s. Perhaps I could make a Diebold-like fortune by investing in a network of Carbon-Offset ATM machines. I’d place them at McDonald’s drive-throughs and NASCAR tracks.
We seem to be devising all manner of exotic technological concepts to “science” our way around the issue of global warming and environmental degradation without fundamental social and economic change. Many of them are good ideas - wind power, super-efficient vehicles; some are boondoggles, like the push for corn ethanol. But the flat fact is that people burn shit, and the more people there are, the more shit they’re going to burn. What we never seem to hear proffered as a solution is reducing birth rates. Was it even mentioned in the Kyoto protocols? It’s like some sort of tabu, like it’ll offend too many fragile sensibilities. But it’s ultimately the only way that the problem will be resolved.
My daily life is designed to bring a pretty light carbon footprint. I walk for most of my errands, and we seldom consider a dinner outing that is beyond our walking range. But our biggest carbon offset was sparing use of the baby-hatch (in the outbound direction, at least). So, I don’t feel too badly about hopping on a plane now & then.
Now, what you might be able to sell me is some calorie offsets.
I actually felt a little guilty taking my Mom along Chuckanut Drive for an outing. How are our ferries? For example, if we had gone to Port Townsend and spent half of the time on the ferry, would that be better than driving the whole time?
We just spent a few days in Humboldt County at my step-daughter and son-in-law’s house. It’s off the grid. What a delight it is to see how well they do with electricity generated by solar energy. There is a diesel generator for backup (and for when they use the washer). They have a propane stove and a 12 volt refrigerator. Quite nice. It gave me hope that living off the grid is comfortable and do-able. The only thing I need is high speed internet, and that is becoming more available through cell phone services. Life without TV and microwaves is quite lovely.
Good post, Phil. I like the indulgences comparison. Plus ca change, eh?
At Carbonfund.org, our motto is “Reduce what you can, Offset what you can’t.”
In saying this we promote climate change education and energy saving methods, while also offering individuals and businesses a cost effective way to take responsibility for their carbon emissions.
As a non-profit organization, with 97% of our donations funding renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects, our goal is to hasten the transformation to a clean energy future.
To learn more about Carbonfund.org and our projects, please visit us at: http://www.carbonfund.org
Thank you,
Carbonfund.org
as a tree farmer with thousands of trees that absorb CO2, i offer everyone the opportunity to adopt a tree for each member of their family. super price offer at $100.00 per tree per month. checks or money orders.
now don’t you feel better?
Apologies for the misprint of our statistics.
The proper figure for 2006 is 95% (up from 93% in 2005).
We currently do not have numbers for 2007.
However, it’s important to consider that the 95% of donations that Carbonfund.org receives does not just funnel into offset projects. The donations we receive also support our education and outreach programs, which are vital tools to engage people in making changes to benefit and protect our environment.