As we get vaccinated, many of us are thinking about traveling again. The downside of traveling by car and especially by plane is the carbon pollution that adds to global warming and increases climate chaos (and fires!). Air travel is one of the worst things we do to the planet. Read one NY Times reporter's story where he relates: "My family’s one-week winter-break trip to Florida would shrink the ice cover by 90 square feet."
The system of paying for carbon offsets was developed to mitigate the effects of carbon-polluting acts. The David Suzuki Foundation explains and critiques carbon offsets. Many shady, bogus, and ineffective businesses make questionable to outright false claims as they take our money. I have used a couple of the for-profit ones in the past (Native Energy and Terrapass) but was never 100% happy and feeling guilt-free.
A savvy friend alerted me to a not-for-profit that seems much better than the for-profit models: Cool Effect.
Guide Star gives Cool Effect a Gold Star Rating. Read about Cool Effect from Yale University School of the Environment.
The ethics of how we live our lives, including travel, could lead to a lengthy and lively discussion. I am reminded of a much-touted quote that was floating around in the 1960s and '70s: "Live simply so that others may simply live." I thought this was a Quaker aphorism, but recently learned it is from Gandhi. In any case, it certainly applies to flying and other carbon-polluting ways of our First World culture.
References:
- Cool Effect homepage: https://www.cooleffect.org
- Cool Effect travel page: https://www.cooleffect.org/travel-offset
- Yale Program on Climate Change Communication: https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2016/10/whats-so-cool-about-cool-effect-carbon-reductions/
- New York Times story: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/reader-center/travel-climate-change.html
- The David Suzuki Foundation explains carbon offset credits and offers caveats: https://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/carbon-offsets/
- Guide Star: https://nonprofitdirectory.guidestar.org/profile?appKey=FAAF72CF5B744145BF1BBC40DC6E96A0&buttons=false&ein=47-5068496
The system of paying for carbon offsets was developed to mitigate the effects of carbon-polluting acts. The David Suzuki Foundation explains and critiques carbon offsets. Many shady, bogus, and ineffective businesses make questionable to outright false claims as they take our money. I have used a couple of the for-profit ones in the past (Native Energy and Terrapass) but was never 100% happy and feeling guilt-free.
A savvy friend alerted me to a not-for-profit that seems much better than the for-profit models: Cool Effect.
Guide Star gives Cool Effect a Gold Star Rating. Read about Cool Effect from Yale University School of the Environment.
The ethics of how we live our lives, including travel, could lead to a lengthy and lively discussion. I am reminded of a much-touted quote that was floating around in the 1960s and '70s: "Live simply so that others may simply live." I thought this was a Quaker aphorism, but recently learned it is from Gandhi. In any case, it certainly applies to flying and other carbon-polluting ways of our First World culture.
References:
- Cool Effect homepage: https://www.cooleffect.org
- Cool Effect travel page: https://www.cooleffect.org/travel-offset
- Yale Program on Climate Change Communication: https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2016/10/whats-so-cool-about-cool-effect-carbon-reductions/
- New York Times story: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/reader-center/travel-climate-change.html
- The David Suzuki Foundation explains carbon offset credits and offers caveats: https://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/carbon-offsets/
- Guide Star: https://nonprofitdirectory.guidestar.org/profile?appKey=FAAF72CF5B744145BF1BBC40DC6E96A0&buttons=false&ein=47-5068496
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