In my home region, the Pacific Northwest, a growing number of local companies are providing individuals with opportunities to offset their annual emissions. While critics are right to argue that all carbon cuts are not created equal, this seems like a step in the right direction. It’s good to see companies like Expedia thinking ahead of the industry curve. Time to stuff the stockings with carbon gift certificates!
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This very thing was actually brought up on this blog in September and I left a lengthy response about concerns with Expedia’s Terrapass. So as not to repeat:
http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/488
…If you really want to fight global warming, give that money to the Campus Climate Challenge!
Hey Matt,
I see your points, but at the same time, I’d argue that if people who aren’t environmental activists at least become aware of climate change through something like a carbon offset gift certificate, then it could be viewed as step in the right direction. It would be a bad thing if people *only* did that, but it also seems like we risk turning off sometimes-activists who feel like they can’t do anything right. You say “It seems to me the only way you can be sure of greenhouse gas reductions is to do them yourself or to have someone you know do them for you” — that’s great, but how many average Joes are really going to do that every time? Honestly, I don’t know if my own parents would. I’d rather they at least try than don’t bother at all, and I’m afraid giving people an “act individually or it’s pointless” ultimatum won’t advance the cause in the long run. Again, I personally agree with what you say, but I don’t know what the best long-term outreach strategies might be. I’m definitely not advocating offsets in place of mandatory emissions reductions. But placing carbon caps on industries is one thing — on societies, it’s another. I think it should happen, but I don’t think it can take place overnight, and this might be a good interim step to get people thinking about the importance of curbing their emissions, which could make them more open to restrictions in the near future.
Terrapass is getting a lot of PR, and based on what I’ve read about their company, it seems like they do have some genuine interest in combatting global warming. It might make sense not only to focus on community movements but also to address existing groups like Terrapass by working with/pressuring them to address our concerns — the one about biomass seems particularly legitimate to raise. If Terrapass is putting its offset money towards CAFOs, we should be organizing against it, drawing attention to it, and educating them about the problems with factory farms. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were well-intended but clueless — as a vegetarian, I’m always amazed by how little people know about CAFOs and our agricultural practices in general. Why don’t we start bugging Terrapass to learn more about what, specifically, they do, and whether they have oversights in place to prevent corporate partners from abusing the good PR they receive by participating? If they’re resistant, then it would be really cool to start a running tally of how much money we might have spent on Terrapass, but which we decided to give to X or Y group instead.
Argh. It makes your head spin, doesn’t it? What do you think?
Great points! I’m really glad you engaged in this conversation.
I do kind of see trading and offsets as an inevitability, whether desirable or not. In fact, they already exist and the market is growing very quickly. I just wish we didn’t have to deal with this whole corporations thing, that the world was made up of genuine folks and not unaccountable entities…
When developing demands, I always advise people to make specific requests about what they want. In this case, maybe calling up Terrapass and saying “hey, give me new wind offsets for this plane ticket” would be really effective. That way there is no question about where the money is going. And if enough folks do something like that the whole market would shift.
And yes, it is enough to make your head spin.