Comments ltlf653 has made

  • questionable support?

    Mr Katz:

    Vail is not "offsetting" its energy use by purchasing renewable energy. By purchasing RECS from an existing wind farm, Vail may only accurately claim to be using clean energy. You are not making an investment that is directly resulting in more renewable energy development, and you are only "supporting" these wind farms in the way that you "support" Wal-Mart when you shop there.

    Unless you're purchasing legitimate offsets (not necessarily to be found on the Chicago Climate Exchange!) you cannot really claim to be encouraging the growth of windfarms--they'd be producing those RECs whether or not you bought them. Only when you're making purchases in REC-based offsets that meet the additionality criteria can make that claim.On Among bad deals, TerraPass's methane offset project? posted 2 years, 8 months ago 7 Responses

  • picking the RIGHT carbon offset provider

    Kudos to Edwards for making his carbon neutrality mean something. The carbon offsets he purchased are actually meaningful--he bought from NativeEnergy which provides offsets from renewable energy projects that wouldn't be able to happen without offset revenue.

    Contrast that to a provider like TerraPass who uses renewable energy sources that would exist anyways, without offset revenue (read: your dollars aren't doing anything special!). Check it out in this  BizWeek article debunking TerraPass in particular. And again, good for Edwards for being a conscientious purchaser!
    On Setting a standard for other candidates, perhaps? posted 2 years, 8 months ago 6 Responses

  • Diversifying the Audience

    I'd like to comment on the fact that An Inconvenient Truth hit home primarily with the upper-class, educated white. But solutions to global warming can (and must!) have everybody on board--across every socioeconomic and racial boundary.

    I heard Van Jones (eco-justice activist of the Ella Baker Center) speak recently. His main point: the development of renewable energy can pull people out of poverty simultaneously. Nancy Pelosi is on board with the whole green-collar job movement, too.

    An Inconvenient Truth may not have reached out to all Americans in terms of viewership. But global warming solutions can!On A chat with Inconvenient Truth co-producer and Hollywood bigwig Lawrence Bender posted 2 years, 8 months ago 3 Responses

  • mutually reinforcing goals

    Thad--you're right about our responsibilities to both future and current generations. In our approach to climate change, we very much need to merge both the safety and sustainability economic viewpoints.

    Can the goals of mitigation and adaptation be mutually enforcing? What about bringing renewable energy projects to poor, coastal areas to help such places raise revenue for, say, levies or platforms for their houses.

    I just heard Van Jones speak the other day and he really emphasized how we can use clean energy development to pull people out of poverty--and by extension, areas vulnerable to eco-disasters! I think his ideas (though generally regarding inner city development) very much apply to this discussion...On Come gaze at your navel for a while posted 2 years, 8 months ago 17 Responses

  • watching out for wrongly claimed credit

    Valid points on why the tax wouldn't fly, but the cap and trade scheme is pretty iffy, too. As someone who has purchased carbon offsets from a provider like NativeEnergy (that actually assures additionality unlike many others), I want to see a C&T system in place that makes sure "dirty" power companies can't claim the right to emissions reductions because they've been forced to turn down productino because of proximate renewable energy pproduction.

    Say I buy 200 tons of offsets. That helps build a wind farm (which wouldn't have happened anyways--i.e. additionality). A coal-powerered plant near by has to back off their production because of that wind farm. With this voluntary market, I can currently claim those reductions as my own. But I'm worried that under a regulated market, that coal-powered plant will claim the right to them!On Those people are smart posted 2 years, 9 months ago 11 Responses

  • speaking of efficiency...

    Pureproduct has the right idea in his/her comment. If we want to talk about efficiency measures, let's stop wasting our time worrying about others' skeletons and worry about ourselves and what we can do.

    Al Gore has changed the world with a single Powerpoint presentation. Yes, he ought to live as he preaches, but let's put our energies towards following his good example and not sling mud around!On Same as it ever was posted 2 years, 9 months ago 37 Responses

  • internal air travel changes...

    Good call Marc...
    I think we should also continue to put pressure on the airlines. Branson had some valid recommendations about how air travel can be "cleaner" especially during take-off and landing, which the majority of emissions is generated.

    For a review, linked textcheck it a summary of his recommendations here...On When is it necessary, and what are the alternatives? posted 2 years, 9 months ago 39 Responses

  • green certificate and offsetting CO2

    Just wanted to reply to Gar's comment about green certificates as a way to encourage renewable energy. The relationship between such certificates and offsetting CO2 is often muddled--and some places/companies claim undue credit obtaining them!

    Say a ski area buys green certificates or Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) as produced by a wind farm, thereby effectively making the electricity that the ski area clean. But the wind farm would be generating this clean energy anyways, even if the ski area didn't buy those RECs. The ski area has no claim, therefore, to being the direct cause of reduced CO2 emissions--these RECs don't count as offsets.

    True, the ski area's purchase of RECs may ultimately stimulate increased demand for wind power, but that's too indirect for the ski area to claim that's it's helping to grow renewable energy projects. The ski area would have to purchase REC-based offsets that help build a project that wouldn't have happened anyways. (This is the additionality component that can be a good measure of the quality of offsets--check out the NativeEnergy FAQs for what I think is an excellent explanation.)

    My main point: green certificates or RECs don't necessarily directly encourage or grow renewable energy projects.On The debate that has all the kids talking! posted 2 years, 9 months ago 18 Responses