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I Ain’t Saying These Folks Is Gold-Diggers…

by Mark Jabo

gold_digger_Kanye_West.jpg
“… but they ain’t messin’ with no broke CO-2 bringers …”

Maybe I lived in New York City too long and am unnecessarily suspicious, but this whole carbon offset thing to me sounds like a green version of Three Card Monte.

I was recently referred to a website, CO2Debt.com, by an anonymous shill concerned citizen who suggested that this website offered a way for individuals to purchase carbon offsets. Oooh - just like Al Gore!

The site answers some of the most common questions people have about carbon offsets. I’ll try to summarize them briefly.

The first question you might pose is “What Can I Do?” Without going into a lot of detail, let’s boil the answer down to it’s most basic level. The answer? Send money.

But “Why Should I Do It?” According to CO2Debt.com:

Every time you do anything from boiling a tea kettle, reading your email, going for a drive or taking a flight you are responsible for creating CO2 emissions. Your emissions are known as your CO2 debt, and everyone has one. Global carbon emissions are at an all time high, and increasing quite dramatically each year. Paying off your debt on CO2debt.com makes you a socially responsible individual. Feel good about yourself, knowing that you help keep the environment clean.

The website doesn’t mention that you produce CO2 by breathing but does note that “modern life can never be completely emissions-free.” Given that rationale, it only makes sense that you should send somebody some money … or kill yourself. Option 1 seems like the better choice for most people.

CO2Debt.com does offer you a handy figure that you can use to determine how much money you should send. For annual gas and electric use you can send $53.00 to

“offset 5.3 tons of greenhouse gases. Equivalent to the emissions generated by the annual gas and electricity usage of an average United States / United Kingdom household. This figure applies for the average European / Asian household as well.”

Not to be picky here, but does anyone else have a problem with the premise that the average annual gas and electricity usage is the same for households on three different continents?

Visit CO2Debt.com and decide for yourself if carbon offsetting is for you.

Then drop me an e-mail - I know this Nigerian prince who had his fortune frozen by a corrupt government and just needs $5,000 to free it up…

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Posted in General on May 25th, 2007

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8 Responses to “ I Ain’t Saying These Folks Is Gold-Diggers… ”

  1. Bijhan Al-Attack Says:
    May 28th, 2007 at 11:51 am

    Asian home…

    European home…

    hmm…

    it’s like ’spot the difference’, isn’t it?

  2. Susie Says:
    May 29th, 2007 at 1:31 am

    Nice post. I like your point of view on Carbon Footprint. I do think that we can make a difference but you also have to know who you are giving your money to. There are consumer advocates who makes sure that the money is going towards what it is suppose to go towards. TerraPass is a great site that also offers carbon offsetting program. I have some posts on Carbon Footprint if you are interested in checking it out.

  3. Mark Jabo Says:
    May 29th, 2007 at 5:38 pm

    Thanks, Susie. I agree with you that even if you believe in offsetting, you still need to invoke the old “buyer beware” rule.

    ET readers can check out Susie over at http://jollygreengirl.org

  4. John Atkins Says:
    June 4th, 2007 at 1:30 pm

    I Actually made a donation to CO2Debt.com and I believe I made a great choice. CO2Debt.com, unlike many other carbon offsetters is a non profit group. The website is reputable, and I even spoke with the owner directly! I HIGHLY reccomend everyone makes a contribution

  5. Mark Jabo Says:
    June 4th, 2007 at 5:55 pm

    Perhaps I’m just a suspicious New Yorker….

  6. Susie Says:
    June 5th, 2007 at 9:58 pm

    lol… yeah I lived in the city for about 7 years.. I miss it but there are some good carbon off putting programs. Thanks for the referral Mark; interested in blogrolling perhaps?

  7. Susie Says:
    June 6th, 2007 at 12:41 am

    lol.. I am starting to feel like a stalker but just to let you know that I linked to this post on my blog. If you want, you can check it out. Cheers

  8. The Accidential Environmentalist - Blog Archive » Eco-friendly link loves Says:
    June 17th, 2007 at 7:09 am

    [...] Environmental Blog written by Mark Jabo is another one I enjoy reading. If you have been reading my posts; you should know that I have covered Carbon Footprinting and Mark has taken another point of view on it. He has a more dubious point of view on Carbon Footprinting but I enjoy it regardless. [...]

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About Environmental Talk

Environmental Talk is a blog that attempts to do the impossible . . . which is to have a reasoned and nuanced approach to the science and issues surrounding global warming. At the same time, we are not above taking the occasional potshot at the extremists and posers on both sides of the topic.

As a global warming agnostic, blogger/moderator Mark Jabo attempts to come down squarely on the side of finding humor in what is, too often, a needlessly contentious topic.

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