Hi Gabriel, That's a good one! Agreed. Buying carbon offsets could help us quell our (guilty) conscience, feel that we're doing good, and in fact encourage us to consume even more of the planet's finite resources.
Business as usual.... Theoretically, the trees would be planted in some rural setting in the 'developing' world, bringing money to the poor. But won't this result in a double-whammy really? The super-rich, rich and middle-classes, freed of the guilt of the responsibility, could easily go on to consume more AND the poor, getting the advantage of heightened purchasing power, would also do likewise? While doing so, we all believe we are saving the planet. What fun! So, who really pays the bill? The planet and our environment, or some central bank churning out dollar (or whatever) bills to give our conscience a rest? I liked your comparision of carbon credits to the current-day version of the contentious indulgences! On one point though, a bit to differ: don't blame overpopulation alone. This has been made into a bogey for many decades now. The bigger threat, even here in the context of the Indian (and Goan) affluent classes, is over-consumption! FN 2009/12/11 Gabriel de Figueiredo <gdefigueir...@yahoo.com.au>: > As far as I am concerned, buying carbon offsets are like buying "indulgences" > in the centuries gone by. You can buy the carbon offsets, but how would they > go towards reducing one's carbon "footprint", so bandied today? > Better would be to plant trees to the equivalent of the carbon spewed or > maybe invest in solar panels, and finally think about limiting population > growth. Everyone talks about emissions from this that and the other, but I > haven't heard anyone talk about the emissions from the human body. -- Frederick Noronha :: +91-832-2409490 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fredericknoronha