Posted by Tina
There you are at home seperating your cans and bottles and tossing your vegetable peelings into the compost pile. You walk or ride a bike whenever you can. Youre looking for ways to save so you can dump your gas guzzler and youve been doing research to find the best alternative; something to drive thats affordably green on a pretty tight budget. Every Saturday you take a burlap sack in tow to clean up an area of the community that your company has adopted and every Thanksgiving you make out checks to organizations that support a clean environment. You dutifully remember to return those plastic store bags to the bin outside of the supermarket and wash and re-use the few plastic bags you keep till they fall apart. Then one day youre sorting through the mail and discover a brochure from the WWF. Remembering it as one of the organizations you’ve donated to over the years you open it to discover an incredible offer:
Join us on a remarkable 25-day journey by a luxury private jet. *** Touch down in some of the most astonishing places on the planet to see the top wildlife, including gorillas, orangutans, rhinos, lemurs and toucans. Explore natural and cultural treasures in remote areas of South America, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and Africa. *** To reach these remote corners, travel on a specially outfitted private jet that carries just 88 passengers in business-class comfort. World-class experts including WWF’s director of species conservation will provide a series of lectures en route, and a professional staff will be devoted to making your global adventure seamless and memorable.
You realize the price tag for this adventure starts at $64,950.00 per person…ouch, just a bit pricey! So you decide to do some investigating on the web. Soon you discover the pricetag is only part of the pain associated with this offer. According to the post Classic Green Hypocracy on the blog, Planet Gore, – Drew Thornley, NRO:
This is the very same WWF that says the current growth in [carbon dioxide] emissions must be stopped as soon as possible and that blames Americans for emitting 21 percent of global CO2 emissions even though the U.S. accounts for only 5 percent of the global population. *** So how does this fantasy trip square with the WWFs alarmist rhetoric? *** Using the carbon footprint calculator on the WWFs own web site, the 36,800-mile trip in a Boeing 757 jet will burn about 100,000 gallons of jet fuel to produce roughly 1,231 tons of CO2 in 25 days thats the equivalent of putting about 1,560 SUVs on the road during those three-plus weeks and that doesnt even include emissions related to local air, ground and water transport and other amenities.
FOX News offers a few more details with, Five Star Green Hypocracy, by Steve Malloy. Mr. Malloy lets you in on what the WWF expects from those of us down here on the ground livin life in the cheap seats and provides some new information about those carbon offset schemes:
The groups web site states that It clearly is time for all Americans to roll up their sleeves, to take steps to reduce emissions, to prepare for climate change, and to encourage others to do the same. *** Maybe, youre thinking, the WWF plans to makes its trip carbon neutral by purchasing carbon offsets after all, the group does offer a carbon offset calculator on its web site under the heading Join WWF in our mission to save life on Earth. But neither the trip brochure nor the WWF web site mentions that any offsets will be purchased and there seems to be good reason for that. *** According to the WWFs calculator, it would cost in excess of $44,000 to offset the carbon emissions from the jet travel alone. *** Then theres the September 2008 report from the General Accounting Office which concluded that the carbon offset market lacked credibility. The Republican leader of the congressional committee requesting the report commented that that the lack of standardization of offsets and fundamental problems assessing and verifying credibility, leave consumers in the dark and exposed to waste, fraud, and abuse. Former Clinton official Joseph Romm wrote on his blog that, the vast majority of offsets are, at some level, just rip-offsets.
“OK…so, just how important is this sustainability thing?” you begin to wonder. I mean…you probably dont begrudge anyone (who has the bucks) a trip like this. It sounds wonderful! But you also realize the people who are likely to make this trip probably also think and vote green…and that does begin to grind a bit. The kinds of legislation and new taxes that they would support would have a big impact on the economy and on the price you pay for goods and services. If they really believe there’s an emergency need wouldn’t they stay home, turn off the lights and live simply? By now you’re probably rethinking those donations.
Oh, and by the way, as long as we’re having this little talk…you know that line about America…the guilt line:
…blames Americans for emitting 21 percent of global CO2 emissions even though the U.S. accounts for only 5 percent of the global population.
You and I both need to ask: What percentage of the worlds population is supplied by American goods and services? * What percentage has been fed, given free medicines and aid by Americans? * What percentage has been defended by America and our fine American military…for generations!
I think our consumption of energy is adequately balanced out by generosity and good will toward our neighbors. This offer is an opportunity. It provides another reason to be very skeptical about alarmist claims and legislation and taxes pushed by green elites.