Carbon Offsetting does it really do anything?

[KenB]

Rob,

I heard the vacuous Sienna Miller on Radio 4 this morning too, believing that she was doing her bit by turning her thermostat down by 1 degree, and then jetting all over the world.

Every time she just pops across to LA, there goes another tonne of CO2  - right into the atmosphere.

But it's all OK  - she's "Offsetting".

She gave absolutely no further details about how or what her offsetting involved,  whether it was effective or whether the offsetting company that her agent had chosen wasn't just pocketing cash from the gullible.

Perhaps by appearing on "Today" she will have encouraged a few listeners to collectively save a few additional tonnes - so that she can continue her vital role.

Also on topic is the news that Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), has stated that it is perfectly acceptable (in his opinion) for rich countries to pay poorer countries in full, to offset their carbon dioxide emissions.

Story here:

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6957328.stm

Previously the agreement had been for rich countries to tackle the bulk of their own CO2 emissions locally, allowing only a very small percentage to be offset to poorer nations.

This is clearly a move to let the Western world off the hook, and to further procrastinate actually doing anything about CO2 emissions.

In my book, if you make a mess - you clean it up, not pay some poor Chinese not to make an equivalent sized mess!.



Ken

[KenB]

List,

Wikipedia has a fairly informative article about the current methods for carbon offsetting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_offset

Tree planting is often the most quoted, but they have to be the right sort of tree, planted in the right location.

It is suggested that 900 trees per year would be needed to offset the average American, so that's about 450 trees for the average Brit or European.

Planting them at 10' spacing would be 1 acre,  so on more realistic 20' or 30' spacing it would be 4 or 9 acres of trees.

Clearly this is not going to happen any day soon.

George Monbiot has been fairly vocal about carbon offsetting, comparing it to the practice of buying indulgences to save our souls from burning in hell.  This time it's not the Church that gets rich from this scam, but big business, and ironically we are probably still going to burn in hell.

On a brighter note, I had to google Sienna Miller to find out who she actually was, and I can say without a doubt, that aided with the correct script, she would make a more appealing spokesperson for global warming than dear old Al Gore.

I can see why the Radio 4 presenter failed to ask her any sensible counter-questions when interviewed - he clearly had his mind on other issues.


Ken