When I left the corporate world and moved to Jackson Hole, nearly six years ago, my goal was to not fly for a year. After logging well over a million air miles over the course of my Nike career, I was very, very tired of the boring routine of getting from point a to b. At the time, my no-fly goal had nothing to do with reducing carbon emissions–even though I recall overhearing conversations among my more environmentally responsible colleagues about carbon offsetting options even then.

As with most addictions, going flight-free cold turkey proved a challenge. First off, winter weather kept us from driving to Colorado Springs for my mother in law's birthday; then it was a couple of business trips; finally, it was a trip to New York to see Christo's Gates. But it has been almost two years now that I have been able to avoid the hassles, tedium and excessive carbon emissions of air travel.

Of course, my choice has resulted in a lot of driving: primarily to visit my in-laws, to visit my mother and her husband in Palm Desert and to visit friends in Portland, Oregon. On the plus side, we've only got one car and we don't do much driving around here; both my wife and I work at home; and, during the spring, summer and fall, I ride my bike everywhere.

Within my circle of friends, there exists a wide variety of opinions and choices about flying. Out of principle, some folks refuse to fly out of Jackson Hole Airport (the only airport in a National Park), so they drive to Idaho Falls or Salt Lake to catch flights. Some folks drive to Idaho Falls and/or Salt Lake to save money (though I wonder how much money they really save, and I wonder about the net carbon emissions impact of the drive/fly/drive combo). Then there's that smaller group of friends that avoid commercial airlines altogether–they can afford to fly in private jets.

In future posts, I'll delve into the net carbon impact of flying commercially out of Jackson Hole vs. the drive/fly/drive combo out of Idaho Falls or Salt Lake City, and I'll opine on the topic of private jets using the Jackson Hole Airport. In the meantime, for those of you who must fly, please consider buying carbon offsets.

Both Expedia and Travelocity offer passengers the choice of buying carbon offsets when they purchase an airline ticket. Companies like Terrapass, e-Blue Horizons and the CarbonNeutral Company, among others, offer consumers the opportunity to offset the impact of flying, driving and home emissions. Can't be bothered by surfing the net to shop for credits–the Carbon Emissions Offset Directory offers one-stop shopping.

And, for those of you who fly by private jet, take a look at this Helium Report which compares carbon dioxide emissions for the top-10 private jets and calculates the cost of carbon offsets. (It even includes a tidbit about Air Force One: George Bush could fly carbon neutral for about $200,000 per year.)

I realize that not everyone will make the lifestyle choices that I have, but everyone can make the choice to reduce and/or offset their carbon emissions.

Carbon Neutral Journal's choices are brought to you by Jorgensen Associates.

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