Comments on: The U.N. Needs to Take a Chill Pill

By: Name

Name — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:29:42 +0000

Go ahead and cut on the CDM and offsets. The polluters love it, because your are also cutting on the Kyoto Protocol, which after all is the (very weak–but what did most know in 1997) the stepping stone that got us to COP15.

Problems with implementing CDMs and offsets? Yes, of course. Problems with the concept? No.

Here is some news you will have to ridicule. Norway pledged last week at Bangkok to achieve 40% reductions by 2020, and has elsehwere pledged to be CO2 neutral by 2030. Some of that will be accomplished with offsets. Be sure and just smear the whole thing–Glenn Beck loves it.

By: Ricardo Coelho

Ricardo Coelho — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:15:55 +0000

This website is great! And right now I'm planting a bonsai to offset the emissions from the electricity I'm spending. Next, I'll give some money to an animal rights organization so that I can earn the right to throw rocks at the abandoned dogs in my street. The logic is as sound as offsetting emissions right?
By the way, did you notice that Al Capone was a precursor of humanitarian offsets? He gave money to charities and that gave him the right to kill and rob lots of people. What a great man!

By: dh

dh — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:11:17 +0000

Don't flatter yourselves “Greenpeace…..over thinking everything”. I think you guys are guilty of oversimplification and misrepresentation. The logic of an offset scheme is actually sound. Companies emitting greenhouse gases have to submit permits to pollute. Good news pollution is finally included as a cost of production instead of an externality. Gov't sets regulation only allocating a certain number of permits which can be reduced year on year thus providing a mechanism to control and reduce greenhouse gas pollution. This is a global problem so stopping pollution anywhere in the world at the least cost will produce less impact to our economies while establishing more sustainable infrastructure and management practices elsewhere in exchange for offset permits.

I would have thought the area for criticism is in implementation not the logic or intent. All offset guidelines say they have to be additional, permanent, verifiable etc. So the UN has suspended an auditor. Isn't this evidence that the intent is there to make the offset system functional. Easy target using that news to argue the opposite.

By: FatCatz

FatCatz — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:16:33 +0000

Why didn't I think of this sooner. Now I won't have to pour my waste oil into a hole at midnight.. I can get enough carbon offsets so I can burn it it broad daylight with shame or legal recrimination.. Thank You CROC!

By: Ingo Puhl

Ingo Puhl — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:53:53 +0000

Fight for your right to offset !!! CROC might want to tell the Beastie Boys who walk their own talk and offset: http://www.greenhighway.net/beastieboys/greenin...

By: Name

Name — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:03:00 +0000

and just why is questioning the validty of these schemes is bad?