Buying carbon offsets seems like a scam to me. I mean just because you are writing a check to a company and you feel good about it doesn't mean it is good for the environment. Buying carbon offsets also lends it's self to becoming an abused 'solution' to our environmental woes. These companies taking your dollars are not presently 'held accountable' for the way they spend those dollars.

One would be better off actually purchasing solar panels or more energy efficient light bulbs, etc. Or directly investing in a stock for a company that manufactures alternative energy products etc.

I believe it would avail both Hollywood and the prime-time viewing public of America were Ed Begley Jr, Woody Harrelson, Pam Anderson and Darryl Hannah to costar in an unreality sitcom about an industrial hemp farm in the screeching boonies of Saskatchewan.  
Not only would the platform this would grant them be festooned with hilarious snafoos and sight gags, but ongoing educationamal stuff could be slipped in without the average viewer being any the wiser; there's lots of grain and corn in SK, so potential biofuel chatter abounds.
"That's not a corn cob, it's my..!"  
Similarly, because the cultivation of non-psychoactive industrial hemp (referred to as "ditchweed" in America) is legal up here, the whole gang could be clad in fibers they grow, harvest, and ginny themselves; Ha ha! Imagine the look on the mounties face when they arrive to discover some hippies passing through started a bonfire at the co-op farm run by Woody, all the while under the false impression they could get higher than Tommy Chong (who also has Canadian ties... kind of like Family Ties; holy crap, we could get Chonger, Michael J and loads of other guest stars on this thing!)
And there'd be no shortage of protesting opportunities, what with the oil sands of Alberta right next door, rampant fur-trapping, badass snowmobile emissions in the winter and Uranium City to the north (look it up; for real, Uranium City.  Crazy). Not to mention the awesome trove of jokes presented by some of the cities and towns out on the prairies; Regina? Saskatoon? Moose Jaw?!
Tweak the concept a bit and the gang could run an organic rehab center for all the cheesy B-listers (blisters?) whose star or sun has faded (or gone super nova) with their latest (insert vice here) scandal!
Who says Hollywood is out of ideas?
Oh, wait, I live in Rossland...
No, but really, it's great 'celebs' are getting into bed with the green sector.
Keep it up, Ed, Woody, etc.
"That's not a corn cob..!"
Rad.  

Different subject here. I'm a USGBC member and Greenie, Prius owner etc. etc. I find it hard to buy green cleaning "stuff" for the most part. It's available in Mega Industrial sizes for offices that have implemented green cleaning policies. I can get some things that are "sort of" green in some of the local markets and Trader Joe's. Which brings me to the suggestion of Ed contacting Trader Joe's (South Pasadena is their original starting point, and I assume the decision makers are still in that area) about carrying his cleaning products. I think it would be a win win for everyone. Otherwise, can we find out how to get some shipped?
Thanks,

  Hey Sarah,

          Why is this listed as "grist" instead of attributed to you?

          Anyway, I have to confess to being a long time Ed Begley fan (as such).  I worked in a hospital in Boston in the early 1970's and was involved in union organizing.  Some of us used to watch the show and argue about which real hospital was being depicted.  We felt that connected to the stories.

          I am generally against the concept of celebrities, but if we must have them, then I vote for Ed!  (Not, that he, a real person cares so much!! (great!)).

          So, I am not so much a fan of Ed Begley the celebrity, as of Ed Begley the human being.  There are very few times I miss American TV, but this will be one.

          Thanks again for the interview.

patrick

It brings up a point I've been meaning to talk about. When you live with a spouse and children, how much do you harp to them about your enviro ethics? If I wanted rain barrels and my spouse didn't, there would be no rain barrels. My wife liked the idea of a Prius (which I admit I planted). If she had wanted something else, that is what she would have gotten.

People have eyes and ears. They can choose to emulate others or not. Our kids have picked up our ethics without any preaching. Prostylizing usually backfires anyway, and surely irritates the crap out those on the receiving end. Environmentalism is a religion to some and that I think is not healthy.

My kids are big time nature lovers. Exposing them to it was not a chore. It was a pleasure for all involved. As for the rest, well that will depend on the infrastructure of our society. We have to develop clean renewable sources of energy, greatly improve the efficiency of how we use it, and rope off our biodiversity. That's it in a nutshell and my kids will be voting to support those things. Although my youngest has pretty much turned our backyard into an organic farm, even at the tender age of twelve, she knows that recycling, backyard gardens, and rain barrels are very small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.

I bought my first electric car in 1970.

And that car used the exact same batteries as his EV1 and RAV4.

I had a baby in 1999, so I needed a car with a backseat ...I heard the RAV4s were gonna be available, so I got rid of my EV1.

Even Ed suggests that the EV1 had big time limitations. Also note that both cars were discontinued because of a lack of sales because of a lack of performance. But only one company chose to limit liability by destroying theirs and only one car company has had a film made about it. Toyota's leadership is just better.

I had been for years driving a natural-gas car.

This car stored energy in two forms. Natural gas, and gasoline. They both fed an internal combustion engine. It was therefore a flex fuel car instead of a hybrid. Like a plug-in hybrid, the cleaner source of energy (the natural gas) had a limited range before going onto gasoline. You can spot a natural gas pickup truck by looking for the big tank strapped in the bed. I used to see a lot more of them.

No, I think this time it's real.

Ed is an old school environmentalist. He was a young adult during the early hey days of environmentalism and the oil shock of the 70's that made small cars popular for a while at least. I think he is right. This will not be a repeat of what happened then.

Will people end up laughing with Ed or at him? Sometimes, it's real hard to tell with these kinds of shows. My concern is that it might reinforce some of the less flattering images of environmentalists (self-righteous and eccentric, which is not far off the mark in my case).

How many of you saw the last episode of Saint Elsewhere? One of the best pieces of story telling I have ever seen.

"You want to go to the Oscars? Go in a Prius."

Right.  Do you know how many BTU's it takes to get a person to the point they can "go to the Oscars".

Once again, another energy violated asks for absolution and tries to make the system that devours nature seem more platable.

Give me the good old days of Robber Barons.  They wore black top hats and tuxedos.  You knew who the bad guys were.  Now they wear sweaters and glasses and pick your pocket while you give them Humanitarian Awards.

Sheeh...