NewEnergyNews: …THE OFFSET CONTROVERSY/

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The challenge now: To make every day Earth Day.

YESTERDAY

THINGS-TO-THINK-ABOUT WEDNESDAY, August 23:

  • TTTA Wednesday-ORIGINAL REPORTING: The IRA And The New Energy Boom
  • TTTA Wednesday-ORIGINAL REPORTING: The IRA And the EV Revolution
  • THE DAY BEFORE

  • Weekend Video: Coming Ocean Current Collapse Could Up Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: Impacts Of The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current Collapse
  • Weekend Video: More Facts On The AMOC
  • THE DAY BEFORE THE DAY BEFORE

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 15-16:

  • Weekend Video: The Truth About China And The Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: Florida Insurance At The Climate Crisis Storm’s Eye
  • Weekend Video: The 9-1-1 On Rooftop Solar
  • THE DAY BEFORE THAT

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 8-9:

  • Weekend Video: Bill Nye Science Guy On The Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: The Changes Causing The Crisis
  • Weekend Video: A “Massive Global Solar Boom” Now
  • THE LAST DAY UP HERE

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 1-2:

  • The Global New Energy Boom Accelerates
  • Ukraine Faces The Climate Crisis While Fighting To Survive
  • Texas Heat And Politics Of Denial
  • --------------------------

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    Founding Editor Herman K. Trabish

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    WEEKEND VIDEOS, June 17-18

  • Fixing The Power System
  • The Energy Storage Solution
  • New Energy Equity With Community Solar
  • Weekend Video: The Way Wind Can Help Win Wars
  • Weekend Video: New Support For Hydropower
  • Some details about NewEnergyNews and the man behind the curtain: Herman K. Trabish, Agua Dulce, CA., Doctor with my hands, Writer with my head, Student of New Energy and Human Experience with my heart

    email: herman@NewEnergyNews.net

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  • WEEKEND VIDEOS, August 24-26:
  • Happy One-Year Birthday, Inflation Reduction Act
  • The Virtual Power Plant Boom, Part 1
  • The Virtual Power Plant Boom, Part 2

    Sunday, April 29, 2007

    …THE OFFSET CONTROVERSY

    Carbon-Neutral Is Hip, But Is It Green?
    Andrew C. Revkin, April 29, 2007 (NY Times)

    WHO
    Only inhabitants of Earth, nobody else. Those who are trying to do something about global warming by using carbon offsets and those who aren’t.
    click to enlarge
    WHAT
    Carbon neutrality is theoretically achieved when carbon offsets are purchased (or earned) to balance any and all emissions created. Questions have been raised about the validity of the concept.

    WHEN
    The concepts of “neutrality” and “offsetting” have grown up with the idea of climate change as caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The more “offsetting” is used, the more questions emerge about whether it creates true “neutrality.”

    WHERE
    In every individual life.
    click to enlarge
    WHY
    As awareness of climate change grows, people want to act. Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” climaxes with actions consumers can do to offset their emissions. The website, and many others, offers a “carbon footprint” calculator. Many celebrities and high-profile businesses are on the bandwagon. And skeptics are asking questions. Offsetting is probably an imperfect alternative to doing nothing, a financial strategy easily abused. Prices are severely skewed, fluctuating in poorly managed EU markets and unstructured US markets. Regulation and oversight could improve it.

    QUOTES
    - Denis Hayes, the president of the Bullitt Foundation, an environmental grant-making group: “The worst of the carbon-offset programs resemble the Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences back before the Reformation…people take private jets and stretch limos, and then think they can buy an indulgence to forgive their sins…This whole game is badly in need of a modern Martin Luther…”
    - Daniel A. Lashof, the science director of the climate center at the Natural Resources Defense Council: “We can’t stop global warming with voluntary offsets, but they offer an option for individuals looking for a way to contribute…in addition to reducing their own emissions and urging their elected representatives to support good policy…”
    - Michael R. Solomon, the author of “Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having and Being” and a professor at Auburn University: “Consumers are always going to gravitate toward a more parsimonious solution that requires less behavioral change…We know that new products or ideas are more likely to be adopted if they don’t require us to alter our routines very much.”
    - Charles Komanoff, a New York energy economist: “There isn’t a single American household above the poverty line that couldn’t cut their CO2 at least 25 percent in six months through a straightforward series of fairly simple and terrifically cost-effective measures…”

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