Submitted by FormerSanDiegan on March 1, 2007 – 10:44am.
I’d like to bring this back around to something analytical and avoid name calling. Here’s how we can easily bring our carbon footprint to Zero and be like Al Gore.
Assumption:
Al uses 20x the average households energy, but buys back carbon credits for about $8,280 per year. Net carbon footprint = ZERO. He’s a hero.
Solution:
Let’s have all those average homeowners follow suit and purchase enough carbon credits to bring their footprint to zero. This comes to $8280/20 = $414. For a measly $414 per year for the average household we can all be carbon neutral like Al Gore. Then we are all heroes. Does this solve the problem ?
Now I can leave the TV on 24 hours a day and just buy another $20 in credits per year to cover it. Cool. I love this energy conservation thing.
before even getting to that point, you can do things at home. upgrade appliances, upgrade insulation, purchase solar appliances (currently at a 30% fed tax credit), use flourescent or led lights, drive a more fuel efficient vehicle…
these are long lasting, generally one time purchase improvements that will reduce your “carbon footprint” prior to having to purchase credits. not doing these first would be wasteful in itself.
now, i’m not a big fan of carbon credits and “personal responsibility” in an arena dominated by corporate interests and public ignorance. credits work, but they require individual participation, participation that cannot be relied on and participation which amounts to an additional tax. i believe direct regulation of producers and users would achieve emission reductions at *all* point sources, encourage conservation due to price regulation (subsidies or taxes) and encourage renewable r/d due to competitive pricing.
