Compensation

Well, Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I am trying hard to focus on all the things I have to be grateful for, but I have a few negatives that want to dominate instead. I work in the mortgage finance industry -- perhaps soon I'll be saying that I used to work in the mortgage finance industry. I would like to consider this a positive move into a more fulfilling expression of my productive force, but some other people depend on my paycheck.

Anyway, that's all off the topic for today. Today I am thinking about carbon offsets. I know that there are a number of problems with offsets -- accountability for one and responsibility for another. The accountability issue means that you don't really know what these organizations are doing with your donations -- so how can you be sure? Then again, you don't really know what your local religious organization is doing with your donations either. The responsibility question means that we don't just want people buying their way out of pollution guilt -- preferably we would have them change their behavior, either voluntarily or through legislative fiat.

I don't know how to resolve these issues for others. I am thinking about the issue for myself, today, because I am hitching a ride with a friend to Las Vegas this weekend. Now in one respect, I suppose that I could justify doing nothing about this since the NetJet transport from Santa Monica to Las Vegas is going whether I go or not. But this Carfree life is not about rationalization and justification. It is about my own personal sense of integrity for me.

So if I fly to Las Vegas on NetJets, I want to take responsibility for removing an equivalent amount of carbon emission from the planet in some other way, to the best extent that I can. And my own personal choice for this, today, is the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF). SELF will offset your carbon usage by providing small community sized solar electricity systems for the rural developing world. Actually, not only do you create almost permanent, clean electricity, but you also save people from dying from inhalation of kerosene fumes from lamps used in closed quarters. They claim $10 offsets a ton of CO2. I have no way to verify this, but I am taking their word for it.

Another offset group, Terrapass will calculate the approximate amount of CO2 emitted by various classes of private jets for you. I disagree with some of Terrapasses math on the linked page, but I think that our medium class NetJet, whatever the precise equipment, is probably going to emit no more than 6 tons of CO2 in the round trip to Las Vegas, consisting of 1 1/2 hours of total flight time.

Thus, I plan to donate at least $60 to SELF to compensate for the pollution caused by my trip to Las Vegas, and keep myself in a carbon neutral stance. I am going to follow up with SELF to see if I can get some accountability on where my dollars are going exactly and whatever I find out, I will post it here.

Offsets are a great way to compensate for my carbon usage and endeavor to balance out the environmental damage being caused by my lifestyle.