Re: [asa] Carbon Offsets for the Elite (or, How the Wealthy Adapt to Warming)

Quote from http://billhobbs.com/2007/02/more_on_gore.html
<quote>
Gore buys his carbon offsets through Generation Investment Management:

     Gore helped found Generation Investment Management, through which
he and others pay for offsets. The firm invests the money in solar, wind
and other projects that reduce energy consumption around the globe...

Gore is chairman of the firm and, presumably, draws an income or will
make money as its investments prosper. In other words, he "buys" his
"carbon offsets" from himself, through a transaction designed to boost
his own investments and return a profit to himself. To be blunt, Gore
doesn't buy "carbon offsets" through Generation Investment Management -
he buys stocks.

And it is not clear at all that Gore's stock purchases - excuse me,
"carbon offsets" purchases - actually help reduce the use of
carbon-based energy at all, while the gas lanterns and other
carbon-based energy burners at his house continue to burn carbon-based
fuels and pump carbon emissions - a/k/a/ "greenhouse gases" - into the
atmosphere.

</quote>

Unless people reduce the absolute quantity of energy use not much will
be accomplished for any of the problems of smog, peak oil or climate change.

Dave W

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Received on Fri Mar 2 17:10:16 2007