Below is a story from the New York Times about the various climate neutral organizations who invest in climate neutral technologies. These companies’ customers give them money in accordance to the amount of Carbon Dioxide they emit in their daily lives. It’s like the green mafia, only companies and individuals who pay ‘protection’ money get value in return, whether its just a guilt free conscience or an increasingly valuable corporate image of environmental responsibility.
You can neutralise the greenhouse emissions from your home, office, car and air travel. In 5 minutes and for the cost of a cappuccino a week, you can go climate neutral now.
Locally, you can contact Joel Fleming at climatefriendly.com to find out more.
Gas Guzzlers Find Price of Forgiveness
By ANTHONY DePALMA
To people who take the threat of global warming personally, driving a
car that spews heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere can
be a guilt trip.But to help atone for that environmental sin, some drivers are
turning to groups on the Internet that offer pain-free ways to
assuage their guilt while promoting clean energy.
It involves buying something known as a carbon offset: a relatively
inexpensive way to stimulate the production of clean electricity.
Just go to one of several carbon-offset Web sites, calculate the
amount of carbon dioxide produced when you drive, fly or otherwise
burn fossil fuels, and then buy an offset that pays for an equivalent
amount of clean energy.
Of course, emissions could be reduced the old-fashioned way - by
flying less, turning off the air-conditioning or buying a more fuel-
efficient car. But that would probably require some sacrifice and
perhaps even a change in lifestyle. Instead, carbon-offset programs
allow individuals to skip the sacrifice and simply pay for the right
to pollute.
“To some extent, it’s a way for people to buy their way into heaven,”
said Chip Giller, who is president of Grist.org, an online
environmental magazine. “On the other hand, this is such a big macro
problem that this is one of the few things people can do to really
make a difference.”
While offsets do not actually eliminate pollution, they do enable
groups like Carbonfund.org to use the money to stimulate the
production of clean electricity, which is more costly than burning
coal or oil. An independent organization ensures that the money
supports real projects. Some groups subsidize existing power
production; others finance the building of new wind turbines or solar
collectors.
In the two years since they appeared, such voluntary offset programs
have become increasingly popular. But it is not clear whether they
actually do any good, or are just one more way for Americans to feel
good about doing things that pollute the atmosphere.
Take Biff Cuthbert. Running an organic clam farm for a few years
taught him all about being green. But when he recently needed a new
vehicle to haul musical equipment for his folk band, as well as his
two Akita dogs, Mr. Cuthbert ignored his environmental conscience and
bought a cream-colored 2004 Land Rover, which gets 12 miles to the
gallon.
Feeling a pang of conscience about driving such a gas-guzzler, Mr.
Cuthbert paid $79.95 to Terrapass.com, a group that helps finance non-
polluting solar, wind and methane-driven energy projects. In
exchange, he got a sticker for his windshield verifying that he is
offsetting some of the 16,766 pounds of carbon dioxide his Land Rover
will emit this year.
“It rounds the edges off of the guilt a little bit, I guess,” said
Mr. Cuthbert, 62, of Guilford, Conn. “It’s a little like having your
cake and eating it too,” Mr. Cuthbert said.
Web sites like terrapass.com, carbonfund.org, nativeenergy.com and
self.org focus on automobile emissions because drivers can become
aware of their carbon footprint every time they fill up. An average
car produces about 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
About the Author...
Joanne Hay, Editor of Nourished Magazine, Chief Nourisher and Mother of three is very grateful to live in Byron Bay and be able to share all she has learned about Nourishment. She has trained as an Acupuncturist (unfinished), Kinesiologist (finished) and parent (never finished). She serves the Weston A Price Foundation as a chapter leader. She loves sauerkraut, kangaroo tail stew, home made ice cream, her husband Wes and her kids Isaiah, Brynn and Ronin (in no particular order…well maybe ice cream first).
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