I know it's only five days until Christmas, but here's a tip for folks who have yet to decorate their tree — or are tired of the tree topper they've used for years.
Time Out London is offering downloads of alternative Christmas angels, like the one pictured below. Sure they're a bit different, but, hey, they're free!
Popularity: 10%
Y'all know how much the New York Times' focus on luxury travel offends my sensibilities — well, last Sunday's Style section featured a travel article that was, perhaps, the most offensive I've ever read.
Titled Before It Disappears: What's imperiled? Let's go there, quick!, the story explores a concept called the "Tourism of Doom."
From the tropics to the ice fields, doom is big business. Quark Expeditions, a leader in arctic travel, doubled capacity for its 2008 season of trips to the northern and southernmost reaches of the planet. Travel agents report clients are increasingly requesting trips to see the melting glaciers of Patagonia, the threatened coral of the Great Barrier Reef, and the eroding atolls of the Maldives.
Excuse me, but when are we going to figure out that this is exactly the mindset that got us into the mess we now face?
It's an accepted fact: airplane travel is a significant contributor to global warming. So, when do we stop throwing logs on the fire? When do we stop supporting an opportunistic travel industry that preys upon folks' desires to see something before it disappears?
Indeed, when do we start showing some self-restraint?
In my mind, there's no such thing as environmentally responsible, eco-sensitive travel.
Carbon Neutral Journal's rants are brought to you by Vertical Media.
Bonus rant: America: We're the new China! Weak, gutless Democrats, sneering, oil-loving Republicans and cars that belch and shrug. (Courtesy of Mark Moreford and SFGate.com, thanks to Chris for the link.)
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All year long I've yearned for comments, reactions to my posts. Thanks to those of you who have taken the time to share your point of view, I've had very modest success with building a community of engaged readers.
As the calendar is about to turn, I'm spending a lot of time thinking about my commitment to keeping this journal going in 2008, and the tack I should take to increase readership and two-way conversations with my readers.
Should I focus on the political campaigns of 2008 and what the candidates are doing and saying about global warming?
Or, should I continue to survey the playing field — examining the choices we face as consumers; passing along tips for reducing greenhouse gas emissions; ranting about duplicity or foot dragging; and sharing links and thoughts about relevant, informative news coverage?
Keeping a daily online journal has been a tremendous learning experience for me. I've explored, considered and learned much more on the topic of global warming than I ever thought possible. I hope my experience has been useful to you as well.
Please write and let me know what you would like to read about in my blog in 2008.
Carbon Neutral Journal's thoughts are brought to you by Hawtin Jorgensen Architects.
Popularity: 14%
In late October, I wrote about Berkeley's plan to finance the cost of solar panels for property owners who agree to pay it back with a 20-year assessment on their property. Last week, there was an Associated Press story about a San Francisco initiative that would offer companies and residents government-funded loans and rebates to offset the costs of installing solar panels:
Under San Francisco's proposal, which must be approved by voters and legislators, businesses would be eligible for rebates of up to $10,000. Residents would receive $3,000 to $5,000 off the cost of installing solar panels depending on whether they use a local contractor and are working on property in a neighborhood near a power plant.
The city would underwrite the cost of the loans, which commercial and residential owners would be expected to pay back through annual tax assessments on their properties…
The loan piece of the program would need to be approved by voters as a ballot initiative, while the refund part would need the support of the Board of Supervisors, San Francisco's equivalent of a city council.
It's encouraging to see that viable choices for making the switch to solar power are being presented to voters in California.
Carbon Neutral Journal's choices are brought to you by Jorgensen Associates.
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All of a sudden the countdown to the end of the Bush administration takes on new meaning and a sense of urgency.
As Al Gore said in his address to the UN Conference on Climate Change in Bali:
Over the next two years the United States is going to be somewhere it is not now. You must anticipate that.
Indeed, there were strong anti-Bush sentiments expressed from all corners of the debate hall (all quotes from the New York Times).
Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists:
The best we hoped for was that the U.S. would not hobble the rest of the world from moving forward. Our delegation here from the States has not been able to meet that low level of expectation.
Kevin Conrad, the negotiator from Papua New Guinea:
If for some reason you are not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us. Please, get out of the way.
David D. Doniger, director of climate policy for the Natural Resources Defense Council:
The next presidential election takes place at the halfway point in these treaty talks. So the U.S. will field a new team in the second half. And there are good odds that the next president will get serious on global warming.
The end result of all this acrimony:
The world’s faltering effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions got a new lease on life on Saturday, as delegates from 187 countries agreed to negotiate a new accord over the next two years — pushing the crucial debates about United States participation into the administration of a new American president…
The resulting “Bali Action Plan” contains no binding commitments, which European countries had sought and the United States fended off. The plan concludes that “deep cuts in global emissions will be required” and provides a timetable for two years of talks to shape the first formal addendum to the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change treaty since the Kyoto Protocol 10 years ago.
At last, there's light at the end of the tunnel — even though it's 400 days away.
Carbon Neutral Journal's news is brought to you by High Country Linen Service.
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Pardon the pun.
My friend Mary has a nutrition counseling business called Beyond Broccoli, and she forwarded along an email newsletter from the UK the other day that contained some fascinating stats — and food for thought. The title: The carbon cost of Christmas, from NUTRAingredients.com|europe.
Academics from the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science at Manchester University investigated the carbon emissions that result from a traditional Christmas feast of roast turkey with stuffing, roast potatoes and vegetables, bread sauce, cranberry sauce and other trimmings. Drinks were excluded.
Their startling results show that one meal for eight generates the equivalent of 20kg of carbon dioxide emissions. When this is multiplied throughout the UK population (assuming a third of the population eats the traditional meal), the impact is a massive 51000 tonnes.
The main culprit is the turkey, which has a particularly large carbon footprint (60 per cent of the total) throughout its lifecycle.
The researchers looked at all stages of the supply chain, including raising the turkey. Indeed, all the turkeys to be eaten in the UK will have, between them, gobbled down some 12000 tonnes of wheat, 3000 tonnes of barley, 4000 tonnes of rape seeds and 800 tonnes of fish meal.
But it would be wholly unfair to place the bulk of the blame on turkeys (and leave vegetarians smugly tucking into their meat-free roasts).
"Vegetables contribute 10 per cent to the carbon footprint, preparation of the meal at home seven per cent, and the total transport accounts for 4.5 per cent," said Professor Azapagic.
The worst offender when it came to transportation, said the researchers, is the humble cranberry.
What's my point? Certainly not to discourage anyone from enjoying a holiday feast; merely to suggest that there's a carbon impact to virtually everything we do and everything we consume.
My holiday wish: that more and more folks will take a considered approach to reducing their carbon footprints. Non-judgemental articles like The carbon impact of Christmas will play a large role in spurring that thought process.
Carbon Neutral Journal's stats are brought to you by Blue Spruce Cleaners.
Popularity: 12%
The Alpinist Film Festival is a mid-winter highlight here in Jackson Hole. With film showings over three nights, January 17-19 at Teton Village's Walk Festival Hall, followed by the People's Choice screening on January 20th at Jackson's Center For The Arts, this year's festival promises to be better than ever.
The point of this post, however, isn't to plug the Alpinist Film Festival, which always sells out, as much as it is to recognize their efforts to stage a carbon neutral event. In fact, according to the press release, the Alpinist and sponsor Patagonia are going to do more than just become carbon neutral:
All energy consumed by the 2008 Festival–from the travel of the speakers and the audiences to snow removal, the delivery of films and the ink consumption for posters and banners–is accounted for in the estimated carbon footprint. In order to eliminate unaccounted carbon, the AFF purchased an additional six tons of offsets, twenty-five percent more than its estimated footprint.
Here's a little more detail about the offsetting scheme:
An analysis of The Alpinist Film Festival's proposed carbon footprint was provided by Jackson, Wyoming's, Teton Power. This carbon-footprint audit led to the selection of the Charlotte, Vermont company NativeEnergy as the provider of carbon offsets for the event. With funding from Patagonia, the AFF purchased thirty tons of carbon credits from NativeEnergy, which will apply them toward reducing the installation and sales costs of a wind-turbine project in the Midwest…
NativeEnergy provides offsets from small- and utility-scale wind projects as well as farm-methane-capture projects. They also help to design projects that create sustainable economic benefits for Native Americans, Alaska Native Villages and other local communities, and that help family farmers compete with large agribusiness interests. The AFF's purchase of thirty tons of carbon credits from NativeEnergy will help support the sales and installations of German-designed wind turbines remanufactured and customized for Midwest conditions.
Kudos to the Alpinist and Patagonia for making a statement to Jackson Hole about the importance of making an effort to reduce one's carbon footprint.
Carbon Neutral Journal's kudos are brought to you by Grand Targhee Resort.
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