2.12.2008 - 12:00pm ET

February 12, 2008 - Americans use a whole lot of energy in living our lives, in following our decadent pursuits, and despite Global Warming, we show no signs of changing our ways, grasping and implementing the concept of conservation of the world's natural resources, including specifically our use of energy/electricity. Instead, as we drive our Hummers the two blocks to get our Starbucks double latte mocha cherry jubilee surprise on the way to the Pilate studio, we look for Green Placebo's, easy fixes to reduce our carbon footprints, assuage our green guilt. Sadly, corporate America is all too happy to give us that placebo, and in giving it to us, they have us paying the way for them to OWN America and the world's green infrastructure, and that needs to change.

Give the devil his due...how brilliant it is that some smart individuals saw the marketing possibility of Green Guilt, and created a product that customers would buy that would allow them (companies) to amass fortunes, allow them to own the very infrastructure that will drive the newly budding green economy of the world. Enter Carbon Offsets. To understand Carbon Offsets, to in fact sell the concept of purchasing carbon offsets, we first have to understand carbon footprints, and what our own personal carbon footprint is.

A carbon footprint is a numerical representation that human activities have on climate. Being more specific, carbon footprints represent the total amount of greenhouse gases produced (measured in units of carbon dioxide), is a measure of the impact we make individually on the earth living our lifestyles. Many activities and products we buy generate carbon emissions, which contribute to accelerating global warming and climate change. So, by creating an index (carbon footprint) by which to measure our individual contribution to Global Warming, some wise souls have created a new sin to add to the list of things we should feel guilty about...pollution. If you are looking for biblical instruction on the proper management of the environment, there is no shortage of passages which apply. The prophet Nahum wrote about these things saying, "You have increased the number of your merchants till they are more than the stars of the sky, but like locusts they strip the land and then fly away." (Nahum 3:16)Being as most of the world in one form or another is religious by nature, we easily buy into the concept of pollution as a sin, and once we buy into that sin, we have created Green Guilt, and put in place a means by which to extract from us a fee that allows us to atone for our sins...Carbon Offsets. This is not necessarily a bad thing if the funds raised are used in a socially responsible way, used to help green those who cannot afford to green themselves.

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