Earth Day founder Denis Hayes think that Carbon Offsets are bunk:

Denis Hayes, who coordinated the first Earth Day in 1970, doesn’t see harm in individuals buying carbon credits. But it could be like trying to absolve sins by buying indulgences, he said.

“I find it slightly offensive that somebody who literally goes on two safaris a year, drives a Rolls-Royce, has at least three houses, and offsets his carbon emissions for $85 can brag about it,” he said. “It’s doing some good, but it doesn’t in any way compensate for his impact on global warming.”

I don’t find it so much offensive as I do ridiculous and hypocritical.

Still to be determined is whether carbon offsets are the new commodity that will truly help the environment — or merely salve the consciences of people who don’t want to give up the luxury of big cars, jet travel, overheated homes, blazing lights and gluttonous appliances.

I’m going to go with B) salve the conscience of hypocrits (and line the pockets of already wealthy hypocrits like Al Gore, who not only buys carbon offsets from himself, but will sell you some too).

Even Cal Broomhead, who manages the energy and climate program for San Francisco’s Department of the Environment, agrees (I can’t even begin to imagine how far left somebody with that title in that city has to be). He has decided to purchase offsets “only after taking other steps to lower emissions, such as replacing incandescent lightbulbs and inefficient appliances.”

Good for him.

(h/t to SeeDubya at JunkYard Blog)

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Thursday, April 19th, 2007 | Trackback |