Thursday, March 22, 2007

What Is Carbon Offset?

Aside from a scam? Nothing more than buying a tree in return for your ability to still emit massive amounts of CO2 and other pollutants into the atmosphere. Read this "Carbon Exchange" sale on Ebay.
CARBON EXCHANGE (Carbon Offsett) - Help stop global warming, we have a 200+ acre property on the pacific coast north of San Francisco California. For every customer who sends $50 we will plant a baby redwood tree in their name. Each year you send an additional $50 to assure that the tree grows and is taken care off properly, we have been planting redwood trees for many years.

We will continue to maintain the property and preserve it for future generations to assure the health and longevity of our children, and our childrens children for many generations to come.

The earth is our gift but it does not come without a price. We could develope our property into a Discount super store, or a Lumber mill but we choose to take the option of environmental preservation and offer to our fellow Americans the opportunity to give something back to the land which has given so much to us. Each year you will recieve a newsletter (Written on recycled paper) explaining the state of our venture and how you can continue your support. Let's do something positive for our children and stop the destruction of our enviorment today. Together we can make this country the world leader in enviormental preservation.

In addition to the the planting of new trees we have set aside a small portion of our property to be developed into an Eco-Friendly Resort with Cabins, RV sites, and other outdoor amenities. We would like to have each donor visit us and participate in one of the most amazing places to visit on the planet. Black sand beaches, Horse back rides, hikes to the Worlds Tallest Tree, and excellent eating establishments are just a few of the things to do in this area. In addition our property is home to one of North Americas largest Rosevelt Elk herds, an Ancient Indian commerce site, as well as a historical Little Red School House which houses our Native American Artifact collection.

The black and white pics below show the damage our previous generations inflicted on much of the northwest, presumebly they did not know the future effects of clear cutting our forest lands, but now we have a chance. Let us fix the mistakes of the past and build a positive future where trees are allowed to grow and provide clean air forever. Help us reverse the mistakes of the past today.

We extend a invitation to each of our donors to come and visit us and see their trees first hand, imagine the joy you can experience bringing the grandparents and the kids to see your trees growing and producing the clean air we so desperately need. You have seen the news, and no matter what the political arguments planting trees can only be a positive thing. We have made a commitment to use a valuable property for the purpose of a better world, please join us and become a contributer today.

Yes, this is just one (of many) scam for a person in California to attempt to make an easy bit of money off of ignorant wealthy environmentalists. Granted it's better than threatening to burn a tree unless a $10 ransom is paid, but there is still a flaw in the idea of "Carbon Offsets."

As Christopher Horner stated on Fox News last night, "Buying carbon offsets is like a glutton telling an average person to starve in order to offset his gluttony. The fact is still that the glutton is still a glutton." Not to mention the fact that in a tree's lifetime of 80 years, it will remove about 1100kg of CO2 from the air, replacing it with Oxygen. That's a lot. Per year, that's about 11 kg of CO2. That's not so much, considering that the average person emits over 19,800 kg CO2 per year. That's 1800 trees to be "Carbon neutral" if you actually use the average consumption, and not 20 times the average person. Those 18oo trees spaced 30 feet apart takes up 1.62 million square feet, or 37 acres, per person. Oh and did I mention at $25 per tree per year that's $45,000 per year?

So you're spending $45,000 per year to offset being a glutton? Why not just change your lifestyle to reduce emissions?

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