There’s been quite a bit of talk lately about the impact humans have had on the earth’s climate, as well as a bunch of crusaders that have touted the various ways we can atone for our sins.  Aside from using transit when necessary, or walking upwards of 10 km to my destination (depending on the weather, and amount of time I have to kill), I’ll admit that I do little to reduce the amount of atmospheric carbon that I am responsible for.  So when we’re stuck living almost literally in the middle of Vancouver, what is a transit-using non-millionaire supposed to do about it?

Well, according to this woman that completely reamed me out at the local coffee shop today (who knew a $1.30 cup of coffee sent so much carbon into the atmosphere to warrant a rant from an anonymous person) … we should be buying carbon offsets.  Knowing little about this latest ”holier-than-thou” trend, I asked her what these offsets were, and where we might buy them.

Luckily, I was not alone in my ignorance as two other regulars decided to give this person a few minutes to explain their case.

The jist of it comes down to this; we (earth-bound organisms) release about 25 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every year.  This potentially excessive amount of carbon dioxide traps heat within our atmosphere, which alters the global climate in ways that we’re just beginning to understand.  Offsetting is an attempt to slow down the damage we cause, allowing us to drive V8 SUVs or flying in our private jets (we all have them, according to Gore’s Live Earth farce).

By paying a fee to companies that raise money for projects that reduce emissions, we can feel good about ourselves despite the pollution we’re in the midst of generating right now.  If we offset as much as we emit, then we can proclaim to the world that we are “carbon neutral”, which seems to include the right to bother complete strangers who are just trying to enjoy reading the paper on the patio of a small coffee shop.

I’m not sure if it’s because of my past stint with the Catholic church, but this reminds me quite a bit of the old practice that let people repent for their sins by paying for “indulgences”.  This allowed people to continue committing sins (coveting the neighbour’s 5-series BMW, for example), while still feeling as though they deserved a place in Heaven.  Buying these indulgences was nothing more than a licence to sin, and I’m seeing these carbon offsets being much the same.

My Trans-Pacific Flight Carbon FootprintBut that said, doing something is better than nothing, so after getting home I checked out a few places where we could buy this licence to pollute.  I wanted to know how much I’d be expected to pay to support my lifestyle, as well as my upcoming flight to Japan (and potentially, the last few flights I’ve taken).  After some quick Googling, I happened on MyClimate.org.  This company has been around for a few years, and they even have a handy calculator to help us determine just how much we should pay.

Using their site, I found out that my recent flights have sent an incredible amount of carbon into the atmosphere.  Here are some of the costs to repent:

  • Vancouver to Toronto and back - 1,531 tonnes of carbon dioxide.  Cost:  62 Swiss Francs (about $54 CDN)
  • Vancouver to Nagoya and back - 3,562 tonnes of carbon dioxide.  Cost:  144 Swiss Francs (about $125.50 CDN)

As if the fuel surcharges and airport improvement fees weren’t enough ….

Ugandan Dairy CowQuite frankly, I don’t see the point behind the whole carbon offset thing.  It seems to be a very ineffective way to actually curb us from sending tonnes of this particular greenhouse gas into the air.  It’s not just humans that are to blame for these pollutants, either.  Ugandan dairy cows tend to pass 1.25 tonnes of this gas every year!

Seriously, though, almost all climate change experts believe that only large cuts in greenhouse gasses will have any impact.  Offsetting will certainly slow the build-up, but once the third-world nations catch up with the rest of us, there will be no stopping the sky from turning a sickly shade of grey-white.

Some projects such as major reforestation efforts, while a real and necessary process, may not trap carbon dioxide for long.  Even if left to grow naturally, trees are mortal.  Most of these offsetting initiatives are also incredibly difficult to evaluate.  There are few standards in the industry, and most projects are in the third world, which make them difficult to verify.

As intelligent as we humans are, global warming is something that acts on a scale that we have yet to truly comprehend.  Even if every Canadian were to offset the national average of 5 tonnes of carbon emissions every year, this would have a minimal effect on the climate.  The only thing we would be able to take away from the act is a slew of tourism campaigns that promote Canada as the most carbon neutral country on the planet.

Oooh!

We can’t just pay someone a couple of bucks every time we’re too lazy to change our lifestyle.  This might have worked for the Catholic church when people would gladly buy a licence to break God’s laws, but if people are truly passionate about reducing our carbon footprint, we need to find abundant and cleaner sources of energy and begin to solve global issues such as this as a unified society.

Until then, everything we do is nothing more than a rolled up newspaper that we can tout around and beat people with.