Interesting food for thought in a recent piece in Slate titled Are the Yankees bad for the environment?

Actually, Slate's conclusion is much the same one I came to in my LOTOJA post a little over a month ago: the vehicles we use to get to and from events — whether as participants or spectators — likely have a greater impact on global warming than all the energy required to operate a sports venue.

A football stadium that seats approximately 78,000 fans, for example, will consume about 65,000 kilowatt hours of electricity and 35,000 cubic feet of natural gas on game day. In the United States, where roughly half of our electricity still comes from coal, each kilowatt hour of electricity produces an average of 1.55 pounds of carbon dioxide. Natural gas is cleaner per unit: Each cubic foot emits 0.12 pounds of carbon dioxide. Putting on a big-time pigskin game thus ends up pumping around 47.6 metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere—or just 1.35 pounds per fan. For comparison's sake, the average American's carbon footprint is 64.81 pounds per day.

So, gathering 78,000 fans in one relatively compact place seems pretty efficient, right? But keep in mind that a stadium of that size will have something like 19,000 parking spaces. Let's be charitable and assume that all the fans drive standard cars and light trucks, which get an average of 21 miles per gallon. Let's also assume (again, very charitably) that each fan travels 29 miles round trip from home to game, the same distance as the average American's daily commute.

Using the standard Energy Information Administration figure of 19.564 pounds of carbon emitted per gallon of gas, then, all those cars spew out 232.84 metric tons of carbon dioxide. And that's surely a massive underestimation, given that many fans drive hundreds of miles in tailgate-ready RVs to pull for their beloved team.

So what's my point? Simple: the things we do everyday provide the best starting place for changing behavior and lessening our impact. Enjoy the occasional big event … as long as you are conscientious about regularly reducing your carbon footprint.

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OK folks, it's time for me to admit that I've totally lost the plot here at the Carbon Neutral Journal. With a total of just eight posts for the year, how can I even call myself a blogger?

After a year of daily posts, driven by a weekly schedule of topics, I thought I could just dial things back a bit, yet continue to blog about all things Carbon Neutral in a relevant and somewhat timely fashion.

Instead, I find myself up to my eyeballs in two new carbon neutral related ventures. I hope you'll find them of interest, and will allow me the time and space to fully develop these new ventures at the expense of this journal. That's not to say that I'm completely giving up on the Carbon Neutral Journal, just redistributing the workload a bit to do justice to a couple of new and exciting projects.

The first is a partnership with a longtime friend and colleague, Lee Barrett. It's called Eco-Logistics.biz, and is an outgrowth of an opportunity I first wrote about in the Journal back in August in a post titled greening Las  Vegas. As I said:

two old friends from the running world produce an annual conference for race directors–they've asked me to help them come up with an agenda for a one-day conference on "greening" running races.

That conference, titled How Green is Your Event? is scheduled for April 5th in Arlington, Virginia.

Since that first post linking participant sporting events with environmental responsibility, I've written a number of related posts. From at least we carpooled to prioritizing play to carbon free surfing to sports and the environment, I've considered the impacts of a variety of sporting events on the environment and the rise in greenhouse gases.

My conclusion: the status quo for today's participant sporting events is shockingly wasteful. Duh!

So Lee and I are going to try and do something about that by offering our expertise (mine in sports marketing, event management and public relations, and Lee's in event management and solid waste management) to event directors who want to make a difference. Stay tuned to our progress by subscribing to the RSS feed at Eco-Logistics.biz.

The second effort that's been taking a lot of my time is called the Teton Area 10 x 10 project. It's inspired by the Town of Jackson's and Teton County's 10 x 10 effort, which I've written about on numerous occasions. The goal of the Teton Area 10 x 10 effort is have participating households and businesses commit to reduce their energy use by at least 10 % by 2010. We've got a Web site in the works and plans to roll out this initiative later in the spring. Until the Teton Area 10 x 10 Web site is up and running, I'll be posting updates here in the journal.

So, you see, I haven't just been slacking off the past few months. I'm just as excited about both of these new ventures  as I was when I committed to blogging about carbon neutrality every day in 2007.

Good things are in the works. I hope you'll stay tuned.

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My friend Steve, who publishes the Children and Nature Journal, suggested I might want to rant about a new book titled The Sky's Not Falling! Why it's OK to chill about global warming.

I haven't read Ms. Fretwell's book and don't plan to. The following blurb was enough to tell me that the author is in deep denial:

While riding a bike saves energy and is a great exercise, it gives you less time to do other things, like sports or homework. We drive our car because it gets us to work and play faster.

She may be in denial, but she's right.

We drive our car because:

• McDonald's, Pizza Hut, the local Java Shack and all Jackon banks  have drive-up windows
• the bus stop is two blocks away and the bus only runs every 15 minutes
• there will be plenty of parking in the new parking garage downtown
• how else are you supposed to get the case of bottled water to soccer practice?
• who in their right mind would spend tens of thousands of dollars on a status symbol and leave it parked in their garage?
• why spend all that money on a heated driveway if you're not going to take the SUV out for a spin?
• bottom line: were just plain lazy.

Carbon Neutral Journal's rants are brought to you by Vertical Media.

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Yep, I know most folks think it goes the other way — defense is the best offense — but not our President.

After skipping Monday's U.N. summit on global warming, Bush played offense yesterday at the opening of the 62nd U.N. General Assembly — railing against countries he rates as the least democratic.

I can't/won't argue with W's point of view on human rights and freedom. At least not in this forum. The topic here is global warming, and I can/will criticize the President's lack of focus on that particular issue.

On Monday, I accused Bush of sleeping in when he skipped the U.N. summit. And, even though my friend Chris thought that was a bit of a rant, my point was this: our President has made a clear choice to downplay the risks and urgency of the climate crisis in favor of trumpeting other issues. To use a sports analogy, #43 is stalling until the clock runs out on his administration; he's really playing neither defense or offense when it comes to global warming.

Meanwhile, per the New York Times,  Bush puffs his chest as a warrior:

calling on countries to live up to freedoms and rights promised by the United Nations almost six decades ago,  announcing tighter sanctions on Myanmar and denouncing the governments of Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Zimbabwe as “brutal regimes” that should be confronted for their abuses.

Does anyone think the transcript of Bush's comments from his meetings with the world's worst CO2 emitters later this week will be as harsh?

Of course not.

Bush went on offense on Tuesday to grab headlines while he was still in control of the message. He'll be on his heels playing defense later in the week.

Stay tuned.

Carbon Neutral Journal's rants are brought to you by Vertical Media.

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kudos to the 42 Jackson Hole businesses and nonprofit organizations that have taken the time to complete the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Business Leaders survey! With just a week to go (the deadline for submissions is Friday, January 26th), it certainly looks like this is a program of great interest and value to the business/nonprofit community–and, ultimately, to the consumer.

Of course, this shouldn't come as a total surprise to locals, but might to Carbon Neutral Journal readers from outside the valley. There is something green going on here–a lot actually:

In addition to co-sponsoring the RRR Business Leaders initiative, the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce is hosting three sustainable business practices seminars this winter. Yesterday's session on energy efficiency drew 25 participants; the next two seminars are scheduled for February 15th (waste management) and March 15th (environmentally friendly purchasing). For more information contact Tim O'Donoghue (tim@jacksonholechamber.com or 307-733-3316 ext.25).

Next Friday, Sustaining Jackson Hole, the Town of Jackson and The Murie Center are presenting Jackson's Green Actions (aka the brag session), which will provide an opportunity for any local business, nonprofit or governmental agency to brag about just how green it is. Jackson's Green Actions is scheduled from 2-5 pm at The Wort Hotel on January 26th.

And, the next Town/County joint information meeting, scheduled for Monday, February 5th at 3 pm, will continue the discussion County Commissioner Ben Ellis initiated at the January joint info meeting regarding government efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from public buildings, vehicles, etc.

Stay tuned for updates on all the good work being accomplished in Jackson Hole…in the meantime, give these local organizations a pat on the back for participating in the RRR Business Leaders program:

Albertsons, Alpenglow Ski Valet, Art Association, Barker-Ewing River Trips, Chiropractic & Sports Injury Center of Jackson Hole, Edge Wireless, First Interstate Bank, Fitzgerald's Bicycles, Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole, Grand Teton Lodge Company, Harger & Hoyt/CTA Architects, Holland & Hart, Jackson Hole & Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Jackson Hole Land Trust, Jackson Hole Llamas, Jackson Hole News & Guide/Jackson Hole Daily, Jackson/Teton County Animal Shelter, Journey Taxi & Transportation, Knit on Pearl, Living Green, Lower Valley Energy, Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary, Moore Myers & Garland, Mountain High Pizza, Rally's Pet Garage, Real Estate of Jackson Hole, Senior Center of Jackson Hole, St. John's Medical Center, Sundance Swim Club, Swope's Mountain Photography, Teton County Library, Teton County Victim Services, Teton Science Schools, Teton Wellness Institute, The Blue Lion, The Murie Center, The Wort Hotel, UpStream Angllers & Outdooor Adventures, Vertical Media, Wild by Nature Gallery, Wyoming Karate Club.

one more kudo: At yesterday's sustainable business practices seminar, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort announced it would begin offsetting 100% of its electrical use by June 1. This is a significant step, given the fact that the Mountain Resort uses 9 million kilowatt-hours per year.

Carbon Neutral Journal's kudos are brought to you by Grand Targhee Resort.

Popularity: 15%

As someone who blogs about a specific environmental issue — global warming — every day, I'm very encouraged by the great support my fellow bloggers are giving to Blog Action Day.

As they say:

What would happen if every blog published posts discussing the same issue, on the same day?
One issue. One day. Thousands of voices.

Well the day has been designated as next Monday, October 15th, and the single topic is the environment. So far, 10,311 blogs and websites have taken the pledge. Their cumulative audience:  over 8,290,564 readers!

Collis Ta'eed, an Australian blogger from FreelanceSwitch.com, and a cofounder of Blog Action Day had this to say in the launch press release:

For just one day, we'd like to unite as many of the millions of bloggers around the world and speak about one issue - the environment. We want to display the potential and the power of the blogging community, which is a disparate community but one with an amazing size, breadth and diversity. By bringing everyone together for one day, we can see just how much can be achieved, and how much we can be heard.

Kudos to Collis and his colleagues as well as all the bloggers rallying around next Monday's call to action.

Carbon Neutral Journal's kudos are brought to you by Grand Targhee Resort.

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If only more people would have followed Patagonia's non-partisan lead in 2004 as they encouraged everyone to vote the environment. Perhaps there would be more conviction in Congress today to place a high(er) priority on energy policy? And, perhaps, President Bush wouldn't be so confident in his threatened veto of whatever Congress eventually comes up with?

In yesterday's New York Times, op-ed columnist Thomas Friedman presented an updated version of Patagonia's 2004 slogan: Save the Planet: Vote Smart. In his editorial, Freidman put individual actions into perspective. His conclusion; the most significant individual choice any of us can make to improve the environment is in the voting booth:

People often ask: I want to get greener, what should I do? New light bulbs? A hybrid? A solar roof? Well, all of those things are helpful. But actually, the greenest thing you can do is this: Choose the right leaders. It is so much more important to change your leaders than change your light bulbs.

Why? Because leaders write the rules, set the standards and offer the tax incentives that drive market behavior across a whole city, state or country. Whatever any of us does individually matters a tiny bit. But when leaders change the rules, you get scale change across the whole marketplace. And the energy-climate challenge we face today is a huge scale problem. Without scale, all you have is a green hobby.

Now, I hate to think my blogging effort is just a green hobby, just as I feel strongly that the conservation measures my wife and I are making really do make a difference. But Friedman does have a point, and he backs it up with a fascinating tale of how the hybrid is taking over New York City's cab fleet — even though there's tremendous driver and consumer demand (now), the whole thing started with with a City Council vote to change existing laws to allow  hybrid taxis. Without a change in policy, nothing would have happened.

By my count, we've got a little over a year to figure out how to get the environment higher on the voters' agenda. We cannot afford another voting cycle going by without folks embracing one key thought: vote the environment.

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

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