Reactions to story from WorldChanging

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  Graduation present: a clean carbon slate

  http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/09/graduation-present-a.ht...
  7 days ago in Boing Boing · Authority: 16,695

  Alex from WorldChanging sez, "We weren't satisfied with the bogus "green" graduation gifts being hawked out there, so we decided to create the ultimate one. For a gift of $6,000, we'll offset the climate emissions of your favorite high
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  Eight things I learned this week, 03

  http://www.kottke.org/08/05/eight-things-i-learned-this-week...
  7 days ago in kottke.org :: home of fine hypertext products · Authority: 3,689

  Eight things I learned this week, 03 [Part three of a recurring series...part one, part two.] Starting in June 2009, the US government will require a passport or "similar federally approved document" for entering the US by land. Both US and
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  Are Carbon Offsets Harmful?

  http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/13/are-carbon-offsets-harmfu...
  3 days ago in EcoLocalizer - Celebrating Local Environmental Action · Authority: 47

  Worldchanging magazine has announced that it is selling the ultimate environmentalist gift for high school and college graduates: carbon offsets for life. This means that for every donation above a certain level, Worldchanging will buy carbon offsets in the name of the graduate. But the price of this gift is not cheap—the minimum donation is $6,000 to offset a graduate’s childhood, and the max is $25,000 to offset an entire career. It also raises an important question: what will such a present do to the mindset of the recipient? While Worldchanging is certainly performing a wonderful service with their carbon offset program, the certificates seem similar to the indulgences once granted by the Catholic Church. Will graduates who have been granted this enormous environmental pardon feel that they no longer have a responsibility to do their part? And will they think that they are on moral high ground when it comes to using gas-guzzling vehicles and jetting from place to place? For those with an environmental conscience and money to burn, I say go ahead and buy all the carbon offsets you can. It certainly doesn’t do any harm. But perhaps we should let new graduates who are just realizing the huge problems we have to contend with find their own way without feeling that they have been granted a free ride. We can use all the help in our local communities that we can get—and a lasting dedication to healing our planet is better than any certificate.
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  Chattails 05.11.08

  http://theerrantaesthete.com/2008/05/11/chattails-051108/
  5 days ago in The Errant Æsthete · Authority: 37

  News of Note from the last week; worthy of the best in cocktail conversation. (Chattails iis taken from the Urban Dictionary: When two or more friends decide to have cocktails and conversation). The economic slowdown has swelled the ranks of people without health insurance. But now it is also threatening millions of people who have insurance but find that the coverage is too limited. [NYTimes] Starting in June 2009, the US government will require a passport or “similar federally approved document” for entering the US by land. Both US and Canadian citizens living near the borders are unhappy. [Salon] Fifty percent of the Australia’s houses sit less than 8 miles from a beach. Eighty percent of Australians live within 80 miles of the sea. [Architectural Record] The capacity of Niagara Falls is controlled artificially; the flow is doubled during normal tourist visiting hours. [Newsweek] As a reward for returning the Stradivarius left in the backseat of Mohamed Khalil’s taxi, violinist Philippe Quint gave the cabbie a reward of $100, a private 30-minute performance in the taxi waiting area at Newark, and tickets for him and his family to Quint’s next performance at Carnegie Hall. Khalil also received a medal from the city of Newark. The Stradivarius is valued at $4 million. [BBC] Toilet bowls are cleaner than the average computer keyboard. Studies differ on how much cleaner…1/5? 1/67? 1/400? [Gelf Magazine] When actively used, women’s ballet shoes can last anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 days. [Arizona Daily Star] For $6,000, you can buy a Worldchanging Carbon Clean Slate gift for your graduating high schooler, which will offset all the climate emissions that your kid has accumulated from birth. For $25,000, you can offset their entire life. [Worldchanging] By 2015, Moscow will have the 10 tallest office buildings in Europe. The rent for Moscow office space is currently higher than in midtown Manhattan. [Newsweek]
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  Worldchanging and Carbon Offsets

  http://pulltheskydown.com/rants/265
  5 days ago in pulltheskydown.com · Authority: 32

  As someone who has historically been critical of carbon offsetting in order to absolve Western guilt, I was getting ready to write a fairly scathing post about Worldchanging’s “carbon clean slate” offsets. But then I started reading through some of the comments section, and there’s actually a pretty good discussion there about the validity of offsetting. As far as Alex Steffen (of Worldchanging) is concerned: “…as an average American with currently used systems and currently available technologies, you simply cannot save enough energy by yourself to have no carbon impact. Even if you underwent radical lifestyle reductions (reductions that almost no one is willing to undergo), your share of the public impact (roads, bridges, airports, military, NASA, the health department, the Postal Service, etc.) is larger than a one-planet carbon footprint. That impact is made in your name, with your tax dollars, for your benefit, but you can’t change it with what you buy or what you forego. You can, however, offset it and work to change it. That is not the same thing as trying to shop your way to sustainability. It’s worth [being] clear-headed about that, I think.” While I can consistently agree with that side of things, it’s hard not to be cynical about offsetting; but if done properly, it’s important to recognize that it is a positive step. If it weren’t framed in business terms (money for carbon), anyone would laud planting trees or buying more renewable electricity. While in the case of offsets it just means treading water in terms of net footprint, offsets of this scale represent a pretty huge chunk of “negative” carbon, since very few people really enter past impact into their reckoning. The notion of rich people paying off their sins is sort of distasteful, but realistically, there are a far worse uses for their cash. I can only wish that this discussion gets as heated…
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  Best Graduation Gift Ever? A Clean Carbon Slate

  http://collegemogul.com/2008/05/10/worldchange-gift/
  6 days ago in College Mogul · Authority: 23

  With lots of you graduating, your parents are presumably looking for gifts to commemorate this joyous occasion. For the environmentally responsible parents WorldChanging is offering a very unique gift. The organization will wipe your carbon slate clean. Depending on the level of donation, they’ll remove all the guilt of the carbon emissions you caused in your childhood, college or working life. From the website of WorldChanging, Your grad gets to head out into the world with the moral weight of their personal choices lifted from their shoulders, you get to show your love and respect, the climate gets a bit of a break and Worldchanging gets the funds we need to continue our prize-winning work exploring the solutions that will create real, lasting change. Half your gift is even tax-deductible! The amount of money you donate will be used to buy carbon offsets from TerraPass. For $6,000, they’ll offset all the climate emissions you racked up until high school graduation. For $7,500, they’ll offset childhood and university years. For $25,000, they’ll offset youth, college and working careers. In addition, you’ll also get a certificate saying that you’re carbon slate is clean. Yes, this means there is a way to pay back for all the emissions you’ve caused and be good again. Living a carbon neutral life is trendy and it is certainly easier to pay for your deeds than change your bulb or get an electric car. Last year individuals spent $331 million to buy carbon offsets for their personal life. Most of that money was used to continue research on carbon emissions and developing better economic and industrial systems to tackle the climate problems. This is a really innovative way to sell carbon offsets to individuals. The carbon offsets market is growing rapidly in developing countries. In India I’ve seen a lot of carbon credit consultancies start up and a lot of farmers are earning from it. Statistically, the carbon footprint of an average Indian is much lower than the world average because of the huge rural population that lives without electricity and depend chiefly on farming for livelihood. But in the cities, living responsibly is not common and emissions are uncontrolled.
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  links for 2008-05-09

  http://sitez.foundnews.com/2008/05/09/links-for-2008-05-09/
  7 days ago in Sitez · Authority: 1

  Whatever Gavin Newsom is selling, I’ll take ten (kottke.org) Soroptimist International of Bidwell Rancho in Chico, CA Microbrew Fest (tags: beer Chico) Give Your Grad a Carbon Clean Slate! (tags: environment) Republicans Vote Against Moms; No Word Yet on Puppies, Kittens (tags: politics republican)
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  http://sadoldgoth.blogspot.com/2008/05/bullshit.html
  7 days ago in sad old goth... · Authority: 25

  bullshit... here ya go... more "send us your money so you'll feel better about destroying the planet by your trite little existence..." that these slime bags offer up what amounts to nothing more than a good, old INDULGENCE pales in the knowledge that the mindless greenies will be sending in their hard earned (right...) cash so they can feel good, while they rally for Eco-fuels that will eventually cause starvation in the Third World and flaunt their cute little spiral light bulbs that are filled with deadly mercury... gah. fucking hippie assholes make me sick. i'm keeping my cash, i need it to fill the gas tank on my giant pickup truck and my lawnmower and power edger and hedge trimmer, not to mention having to go to work occasionally so I can afford the gas i need to do so. i love what one commenter said... "Green is another name for imperialism." wander with me...

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