Friday 16 November 2007

The great carbon offset scam

Terrapass is a US company set up to sell carbon offsets to those who are inclined to buy them.
The first step you can take to fight global warming is to reduce your carbon footprint through conservation. Drive less. Turn down the thermostat. Buy locally produced goods. A recent survey of TerraPass customers shows that they're already taking all kinds of steps to reduce their impact.

Then use TerraPass to balance the emissions you can't reduce.

When you buy a TerraPass, your money funds clean energy and efficiency projects such as wind farms. These projects result in verified reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

...Every TerraPass member has taken a simple positive step to fight global warming. Every TerraPass purchase is a vote for innovation, efficiency, and clean energy. Together, we have eliminated over 500 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.



Terrapass includes a handy calculator to allow you to work out your car's emissions (and flights and home etc).

Based on 12,000 miles per year (the US average, as per the Terrapass website = 20,000 km) the following is the amount of money you'll need to pay to assuage your carbon emissions guilt.

The Cadillac Escalade 2007 model is a thumping, great V8 SUV that pumps out 403hp (301kw), gets 13mpg around town and emits an atmosphere-searing 14,673lbs of CO2 per year.



An Escalade owner doing the average 12,000 miles per year at 13mpg means that they'll need to drop into the local Exxon and buy 923 gallons of gas. At $3 per gallon that's $2,769 they'll be spending.

So how much would you expect to pay to buy carbon offsets from Terrapass so that your Gaia-raping guilt can be relieved? $3,000? $1,000? $500?

Nope. How about the bargain price of $79.95?

Not only that, but you can do another 6,000 miles for the same price. Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself.



Here are a few other cars that sneak into the $79.95 nearly-all-you-can-emit fee:

Ferrari 430


Aston Martin DB9


So what's the other end of the scale look like? The small car, small engine type?

Here's Toyota's 97 pound weakling, the Yaris (aka Vitz) with a 1.5L 106hp (75kw) donk.



The 12,000 miles per year will cost $1,058 in gas due to its 34mpg city economy.

How much will you pay to offset your emissions? A massive $39.95 - more than half the aforementioned Gaia rapers above.

Lost a little faith in the credibility of 'fixing' your driving miles through credits?

Here's the car that your pretentious Climate Hypocrite loves to drive - the iconic Toyota Prius.



Surely there's no cost for punting around town all year in one of these morally superior pieces of Japanese climate bling?

Oops. Even Prius owners need to pay $29.95 per year to offset their emissions.

How ridiculous is the whole carbon credit concept?

If these credits really, truly offset your emissions then it's far more sensible to save the cost premium of the Prius over its same-size competitors and simply pay another $10 per year to Terrapass.

This whole thing has to be one of the greatest scams of all time. It's only the gullible know-nothings on the left are getting sucked into this stuff. Unfortunately, due to a combination of factors we may soon live in a world where we all get slugged in the wallet if the Democrats win the 2008 election and impose carbon quotas into the US economy.

(Nothing Follows)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sometimes, It takes time for our society to react to environmental problem. Carbon Credits speak to the part of the population that doesnt view environmentalism with same view as you. As you work on your computer today the energy it uses most likely leads to production of CO2. Carbon offset in some cases fund renewable energy projects that would never be built with the monies from sale of those carbon credits. So you call them a scam I call them a education and engine of education. I believe in many case those that purchase offsets do as much as they can first before they purchase credits. I also see it as economic function. People can connect with the fact that drive around does more then get them to where they want to be, they can see actions result in a pollutant that is changing our planets climate. As it stands to day, a vast majority of people cannot avoid the carbon they emitted because of economic and social pressure of our society. Living in this paradigm has forced people to look for solution that will work in the temporary transitional phase that we are hopefully enter that will eventually lead to a sustainable future. The bottom line forget the cost and guilt aspect. People have to learn about their impact, and Carbon offsets are helping spur creation of new renewable energy projects. Absent of any policies from either the dems or republican. Even with current policies most renewable energy systems cannot compete on purely financial level with coal and other fossil base energy. Our global society is waking up but there still so far to go and so much to change. Many believe in technology as our savior , in many ways it will provide us with a easier transition but our culture in its core has to completely redesign our value system. Carbon Offset works in this consumer base work, Carbon offset just one solution and eduction system of this moment. Remember our economies and energy system, and our own culture cannot change over night. It took us 30 years to get to this point in environmental moment. Its time to accept all solutions because they lead to greater future for all of us.

Jack Lacton said...

Our global society is waking up but there still so far to go and so much to change. Many believe in technology as our savior , in many ways it will provide us with a easier transition but our culture in its core has to completely redesign our value system. Carbon Offset works in this consumer base work, Carbon offset just one solution and eduction system of this moment. Remember our economies and energy system, and our own culture cannot change over night. It took us 30 years to get to this point in environmental moment. Its time to accept all solutions because they lead to greater future for all of us.

Global society...30 years to get to this point...greater future.

Sounds a whole heap like socialism to me.

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