Thursday, September 27, 2007

[insert sin here] neutral

Ken and I love NPR, and are happy to support our public radio station. I usually listen to it on the way home, and today on Talk of the Nation, there was a great interview with Peter Schweizer, a journalist who poked some fun at the concept of carbon offsetting. He wrote an editorial for USA Today about it, and basically, he wonders why should we stop at carbon offsetting? Let's apply it to other problems we have, whether it's adultery or obesity. It's quite funny, and a nifty little piece of satire.

In the interview, he got a little more serious, and said that he feels that carbon offsetting is basically an excuse for continuing our poor behavior, and calls it "outsourcing our moral responsibilities." He went on to say that in some circles (not to mention any place in particular, HOLLYWOOD), it's almost a status symbol to brag about how much you've spent to offset your carbon footprint, while in the meantime your private jet is running and awaiting you on the tarmac. I've felt exactly same way ever since the Oscars, when certain people (not to mention anyone in particular, DICAPRIO) talked about how special that broadcast was because the carbon footprint was offset, blah de blah blah blah. BLEAHHHH! You know what? Most of us don't live in houses that have a kazillion square feet, and most of us have ONE house. How many houses do YOU have, Leo? And I'm sure there weren't too many actors who DIDN'T arrive in a limo that night. The hypocrisy of it all makes me want to puke.

Hey Beth, tell us how you really feel!

Okay, I'll calm down. But honestly, it's ridiculous, and I'm so sick of being preached to by some of the largest and most egregious consumers in America. Spending a bunch of money on carbon offsets does not immediately negate the damage, and may not ever negate it. Think first about your actions, and somehow find the humility to admit that all the money in the world can't make you a better person or a better environmentalist or a better anything. For us mere mortals, our best efforts include changing our behavior and doing what we can to do make a difference, not simply writing a check to assuage our guilt and nullify the bad behavior that we continue to exhibit.

This is pretty funny, too.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

  Well said! My wife and I work hard to reduce, not only our carbon, but our entire ecological footprint. We drive compact cars. We compost as much as we can, and make full use of our community's recycling services. We try to conserve energy via judicious use of electricity, and by avoiding our A/C on all but the hottest days. We observe the watering bans in our town during the height of summer, to the point that our lawn is now completely dead, and it is going to cost us money to reseed it. And then we have to turn on the TV to listen to these self righteous phonies yammer on about what "we" should all be doing, when they don't really include themselves in that group. Wait, just turn off the TV. There's an idea! Next year we should organize a "reduce your carbon footprint: turn off the Oscars" campaign. People could pledge to turn off every media device in their home for the duration of the Oscar telecast. What do you think?

p.s. I found you via Magic Smoke's weekly "blogplugs" entry. Hey, it works!
-Paul
http://journals.aol.ca/plittle/AuroraWalkingVacation/

Anonymous said...

Hi Paul, thanks for reading! I love your idea of "Turn Off The Oscars Campaign!" TOTO!

Anonymous said...

carben off setting is the reason i came here, and thats what i will write about

the only way they will work is to everyone to get a base level , as a tax like cretit, that works at the point of purchase ,that offsets the real carben cost at point of sale [individually]
how it would work is by converting them to  a credit ,if your in credit ,you just get them deducted at the point of sale ,if you are in deficite you can borrow them [at intrest, or buy them via your carben credit banker[possably the same banker you basnk with, but not nessesarilly so it could be by a service provider or carben union ,who issue you a sepperate card to pay the carben offset excice

basiclly the total carben deficit stays with the product, from manufacture ,through transport, to other carben defecits ,inherant in the specific product ,and is factored into the price dependant on its real , actual carben cost

extra credits can be bought sold  gifted or inherited ,carben capture can claim refunds ,fior the carben captured, via licenced chartered carben accountants ,who have strict accounting protocols ,with real monetory fines for fraud