April 26, 2007

Fraud? From the environmental movement? No way!!!

Carbon offsets.

One of the new chic things in the twenty-first century for a certifiable "green" lifestyle. Al Gore buys them. Hell, he's the chairman of the company that sells them. What are they? A new form of an "indulgence," the old practice of the Roman Catholic Church whereby you could "buy" your way out of sin. (If only that were true.) That practice precipitated a small revolt by a little-known priest by the name of Martin Luther in the late 1500s. It seems he sort of objected to the blatant dishonesty of promising salvation in exchange for luchre.

Today, an entire industry has been born to sell and trade "carbon offsets" here and in Europe. Presumably, these offsets allow a person or firm to continue functioning in a less than green way while "paying the piper" for their sins. But all is not well in the carbon offset industry. The bloom on the (green) rose may be off, and the fraudulent realities of the practice may be finally kicking in. From The Financial Times:

■ Widespread instances of people and organisations buying worthless credits that do not yield any reductions in carbon emissions.

■ Industrial companies profiting from doing very little – or from gaining carbon credits on the basis of efficiency gains from which they have already benefited substantially.

■ Brokers providing services of questionable or no value.

■ A shortage of verification, making it difficult for buyers to assess the true value of carbon credits.

■ Companies and individuals being charged over the odds for the private purchase of European Union carbon permits that have plummeted in value because they do not result in emissions cuts.

Today, BabaluBlog proudly announces the sale of Stupidity Offsets that can provide the journalists, apologists and fans of fidel the ability to assuage their inability to grasp reality. At $100 a pop, we think these are a great value.

Maybe Algore will have something to say about this scandal on tonight's Babalu Radio Hour.

Posted by George Moneo at April 26, 2007 11:02 AM



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Comments

It'll probably take another 5 years or so and people will discover the "great CO2 scam". Not to worry, they'll find something else to worry about.

Posted by: Eleggua [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 26, 2007 11:41 AM

AlGore: "I'm shocked, shocked, that there is fraud in carbon offsets!"

Offsetter: "Here are your credits..."

Posted by: Mr. Bingley [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 26, 2007 12:00 PM

Good reference Mr. Bingley!! I've used that one myself a few times!! :)

Posted by: daniel_in_garanhuns [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 26, 2007 12:42 PM

Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth”

Gore's utility bill for 2006 was $30,000.00! Yep! Good old Al’s “20-room home and pool house devoured nearly 221,000 kilowatt-hours in 2006, more than 20 times the national average of 10,656 kilowatt-hours.” His pool is heated 24/7 folks. With these Democrats it’s always DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO.


http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=nation_world&id=5072659

Posted by: Firefly [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 26, 2007 01:52 PM

And by the way.... Film production for "An Inconvenient Truth" began on the middle of 2005 and and began the edit process in October of 2005. The film was released in May 2006 while Al "do as say, not as I do" Gore was burning kilowatts. I wonder what his light bill was for 2005?

Posted by: Firefly [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 26, 2007 02:19 PM

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