There's been a boom in awareness around environmental issues in Australia in the past 18 months or so. In particular, the local water crisis and the refusal of our Prime Minister to agree to the Kyoto Protocol have been big news. This week, I watched An Inconvenient Truth and was fascinated by the clarity and enormity of the global warming issue as presented by Al Gore. It triggered some discussion between my wife and I about going carbon neutral, so I began doing some research into it.
Today I offset the carbon produced by my house and car, effectively making a big chunk of my life carbon neutral. It was surprisingly cheap, costing only about $300 Australian dollars per year. To become carbon neutral, the simplest thing to do is to purchase carbon offset products. You measure the amount of carbon produced by your life using some simple calculators, and the companies that sell the carbon offsets make sure an equivalent amount of carbon is reduced from some other emissions. The David Suzuki Foundation provides a good description of carbon offsets and how they work.
Whilst the issue is a global one, I wanted to purchase carbon offsets locally to help raise local awareness. A quick search of the market found both Men of the Trees, who provide a tree planting program, and Neco, who also plant trees amongst other carbon abatement activities. Whilst tree planting is an important activity, it doesn't conform to the Gold Standard for carbon offset products, which badges them as being compliant with the Kyoto Protocol. Tree planting in particular is not a permanent change, and doesn't address the root cause of our dependance on fossil fuels.
Eventually, I found Climate Friendly, who sell carbon offsets that fund local wind farms in Australia and New Zealand. Wind farm technology does comply with the Gold Standard, so I was was happy that I was both supporting local awareness and offsetting my carbon output as best I could.
Comments
Your prime minister is wise. Kyoto is a joke as is Al Gore. At least the countries that didn't jump on board unlike the countries that did so with no intention of following the rules.
The world is constantly changing, warming and cooling. We're all bugs on a big rock and have very little control over what happens to us in the grand scheme.
Do you really think if everyone jumped on kyoto the climate would stop changing?
In away I find global warming theory to be reassuring. At least we know that if another ice age comes we'll be able to fend it off with internal combustion engines.
Posted by: Rob | November 1, 2006 12:18 PM
Hey I recently used Neco to purchase a carbon offset to negate my share of the carbon emitted by my return flight to Melbourne for the recent ThoughtWorks Australia Team Hug. It was pretty cheap too, at $AUD7. Their blurb leads me to believe that my money is used to purchase carbon credits from the NSW Government Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme which, amongst other things, funds (I *THINK*) the availability of free water efficient shower heads and energy efficient light bulbs for households. There is nothing of course forcing people to install these items though...
HOWEVER, I am a bit ticked off that they insist on charging me $7.50 S&H for some cheesy 'Carbon Neutral' luggage tags... they arrived today in a brown envelope with a 50c Australia Post stamp. I have emailed them about offering a no-shipping options; which they say they will get to in a few months. Nice idea Neco, but seriously poor implementation...
Posted by: James Webster | November 1, 2006 10:18 PM
I've also been surprised at how cheap offsets are. Neco credits don't meet the gold standard, but they are still a Good Thing (TM). Kibble is good, but the shipping bit for them kinda sucks.
Posted by: Marty Andrews | November 2, 2006 07:51 AM
If the Prime Minister's position was that he had studied (and understood) the available information and come to an informed conclusion that global warming was not a man-made problem, then there would be a basis for calling him wise. I would disagree with that conclusion, but it would be a subjective opinion.
But that is not his position. His position is that he believes that human activities are causing glboal warming, but that he doesn't want to pay the price (economically) to reduce that problem. His mantra is "The economy above all, and if we destroy the planet in the process, well hopefully someone will sort that out later"
That's not wise. That's short-sighted and selfish.
Beyond that there is the question of the role of the Prime Minister and his (ethical) right to make arbitrary decisions. Given that the overwhelming majority of climatologists believe that human CO2 production is a significant contributor to global warming, is it appropriate for a PM who is not a climatologist to trust his own opinion over theirs? I would argue that his role is to try and balance their advice to reduce our impact on the climate, with the economist's advice, with industry's advice, with the people's opinions and priorities.
I don't think he should be making scientific decisions in opposition to his own scientists.
Posted by: Tim Vernum | November 2, 2006 12:37 PM
Hiya Tim,
Without getting into a political debate, my understanding was that the PM was concerned about the disparity of responsibility from an economic view that "old economies" had to field, compared to "new economies".
As such, Australia signing up to the Kyoto would impose an economic burden on the country which wasn't also imposed on China or India (for example) and as such would make our products and services less competitive on a global level. Given that China and India produce far more "bad stuff" than Australia, should we shoulder that burden ?
Whether or not you agree with this particular stance, or whether or not you feel we should do it regardless of the economic impact relative to our trading competition is up for debate.
I'm not convinced that signing up to Kyoto is anything more than a political statement, in the same way that Sun open sourcing Java.
In both cases, it's unlikly to make any impact on the outcome, but is just good PR.
Posted by: Jon Eaves | November 17, 2006 09:10 AM
For what its worth, Australia does have its own goals as defined on the Green Power site. I think its a shame we don't sign up for Kyoto as well, but I'm glad there is some progress regardless.
Posted by: Marty Andrews | November 19, 2006 01:29 PM
Sure is a pity Australia hasn't signed up for Kyoto. Thank God there are businesses around doing the work for the government. Look at Neco, Easy Being Green and others. A fairly new but excellent one is the Carbon Reduction Institute - www.noco2.com.au - provides you with offsets in exchange for light globes, showerheads or even Kyoto Gold Standard projects. I recently offset my flight there. Check out the website!
Posted by: Berenike Hartmann | September 18, 2007 06:30 PM