Sundance: CarbonNeutral/LoveSounds

Yeah, yeah, it’s not about the celebrities. Only it is. 3

I spent most of my time in Utah almost seeing stars. Hung out with a biofuels enthusiast that Ed Begley Jr. had hung out with the day before. Rode in a car that chauffeured Bradley Whitford the previous two days. Touched a poster that Justin Timberlake would touch just the next day. Sigh.

An update (complete with photos of celebrities that I did not touch) came in today from Ice Lounge organizing-marketer-guy Scott Samson. Thanks to donations from Sundance highrollers (stars I did not touch among them), The Conservation Fund offset more than 10,500 tons of carbon dioxide by planting approximately 7,200 trees in wildlife refuges. And my ride in the shiny silver spy car made my eco-savvy-celeb stalking carbon neutral. Weeee!

Justin Timberlake

I touched this. And then Justin Timberlake did. If only he'd give me some carbon neutral in a box.

Kate Sheppard is Grist’s political reporter.

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  1. wiscidea Posted 3:25 pm
    26 Jan 2007

    This is so cool, literally...I just checked out the Conservation Fund website, filled in their little carbon emission calculator, and...
    I have to plant only 18 trees to offset my emissions for the next 70 years! Yahoo! That is the entire household, including commuting to work in an SUV. I'll be carbon neutral by the end of the year! I think I'll plant some shagbark hickory, a few red pines, some white oaks. That'll do it. I can crank the air conditioning this summer and relax with a book.
    Uh... there must be something wrong with their calculator. It can't be that easy.
  2. wiscidea Posted 3:35 pm
    26 Jan 2007

    Oh.... I see...I have to plant only 18 trees EACH YEAR for the rest of my commuting life.
    I think I better turn down the heat, turn off the lights, and go to sleep. The longer I sit in front of this computer at night, the more trees I will have to plant.
  3. Steve Bloom Posted 8:22 am
    27 Jan 2007

    Are those trees in the tropics?Because if not, planting them doesn't help.  The decrease in albedo cancels (and maybe more than cancels) the benefit from the sequestered CO2.  Sure enough, the noted Conservation Fund program claims global warming offsets for tree planting here in the U.S.  (Just to be clear, there are good reasons to do temperate zone forest restoration work, but fighting global warming isn't one of them.)  Regarding the tropics, the issue is rather more one of trying to stem the tide of continuing deforestation.  I suggest this little mantra:
    Sequestration is a scam.

    Sequestration is a scam.

    Sequestration is a scam.
    Repeat as needed.

     

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