red states rule
Senior Member
- May 30, 2006
- 16,011
- 573
- 48
One of the feel good liberal scams today is called carbon offsets.
This was created by enviro wackos to ease their consciences
The Great Green Rip-off?
It's travel's biggest bargain - pay someone to plant a couple of trees and you can keep flying with a clear conscience. But where exactly does the money go, and will it really save the planet? By Tom Robbins
The Observer Sunday December 10 2006
Its so easy. You buy your bargain flights for £20 and set off for your city break in Spain. Global warming? Not a problem just click on the web and pay a couple of quid to cancel out the evil effects of the flight. Trees will be planted, or energy saving lightbulbs installed somewhere in a far off land. Your guilt is assuaged. You can have your cake and eat it.
The industry that enabled this little magic trick the carbon off set is booming, with Britain the world capital. There are now at least 15 companies in this country catering to people who volunteer to off set the carbon emissions of flights; the rest of the world manages just 29. A year ago, 20 people per week were offsetting flights through the website of one British firm, the CarbonNeutral Company. Today, its 200 per week.
Celebrities, big corporations and in particular travel companies have been rushing to sign up for offset schemes and to bathe in the righteous glow of eco-responsibility, and the column inches that follow . In the last fortnight alone, Lastminute and Silverjet have announced new schemes. And while previously airlines and tour companies asked for a donation after you made your booking, some are pushing it even harder. Tomorrow, Crystal will announce it will start automatically adding a offsetting fee, which remains optional but which you must opt out of. Silverjet, the all business class airline, goes further still, with a mandatory charge that everyone must pay. So come on: keep travelling, but cough up and save the world too!
Except, as your mouse hovers over the donate button, you might like to know that one particular industry has decided against signing up with any of the existing offsetting companies. In fact, its experts have judged that the firms keep back too much of the donations; that their calculations as to how much each flight should cost vary wildly, leaving travellers confused; and that they lack clear, accountable structures. And who is this rocking the boat? Some crazy ultra-greens hellbent on destroying our minibreaks? Er, no. It is the travel industry itself.
Read the complete article
http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2006/dec/10/ethicalholidays.escape
This was created by enviro wackos to ease their consciences
The Great Green Rip-off?
It's travel's biggest bargain - pay someone to plant a couple of trees and you can keep flying with a clear conscience. But where exactly does the money go, and will it really save the planet? By Tom Robbins
The Observer Sunday December 10 2006
Its so easy. You buy your bargain flights for £20 and set off for your city break in Spain. Global warming? Not a problem just click on the web and pay a couple of quid to cancel out the evil effects of the flight. Trees will be planted, or energy saving lightbulbs installed somewhere in a far off land. Your guilt is assuaged. You can have your cake and eat it.
The industry that enabled this little magic trick the carbon off set is booming, with Britain the world capital. There are now at least 15 companies in this country catering to people who volunteer to off set the carbon emissions of flights; the rest of the world manages just 29. A year ago, 20 people per week were offsetting flights through the website of one British firm, the CarbonNeutral Company. Today, its 200 per week.
Celebrities, big corporations and in particular travel companies have been rushing to sign up for offset schemes and to bathe in the righteous glow of eco-responsibility, and the column inches that follow . In the last fortnight alone, Lastminute and Silverjet have announced new schemes. And while previously airlines and tour companies asked for a donation after you made your booking, some are pushing it even harder. Tomorrow, Crystal will announce it will start automatically adding a offsetting fee, which remains optional but which you must opt out of. Silverjet, the all business class airline, goes further still, with a mandatory charge that everyone must pay. So come on: keep travelling, but cough up and save the world too!
Except, as your mouse hovers over the donate button, you might like to know that one particular industry has decided against signing up with any of the existing offsetting companies. In fact, its experts have judged that the firms keep back too much of the donations; that their calculations as to how much each flight should cost vary wildly, leaving travellers confused; and that they lack clear, accountable structures. And who is this rocking the boat? Some crazy ultra-greens hellbent on destroying our minibreaks? Er, no. It is the travel industry itself.
Read the complete article
http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2006/dec/10/ethicalholidays.escape
