The Bay Area Air Quality Management District voted 15 to 1 to implement a CO2 tax of 4.4 cents per metric ton of emissions.  The tax would effect 2500 businesses ranging from refineries to grocery stores.  While this is the first Carbon Tax in the US, 4.4 cents per metric ton of CO2 represents just little more 1/2 of 1% of the actual cost of carbon offsets on the Chicago Climate Exchange where offsets closed today at $7.35 per metric ton.

For more details:  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/21/MNDN10QD6O.DTL

Over the last few months i’ve read a great number of articles on global warming, carbon offsets and carbon trading.  One of the most unbelieveable facts that i’ve found, is the marketing efforts of the Flat Earth Society, AKA Right Wing America to deny that global warming is occuring.  Well if not for the long history of this groups opposition to any scientific fact that doesn’t meet Right Wing dogma, this campaign would be shocking.  Today, the only thing shocking is the number of so called “educated” Americans who base their scientific opinions on what they are told by Rush Limbaugh, a man who says “nature has an infinite ability to cleanse itself”, and other equally stupid statements on the environment.

The Anti-Science crowd takes pride in denying facts such as: global temperatures are rising, carbon dioxide levels are rising, the seas are rising and for most of the last 40 years denying that smoking causes cancer.  Yes these IQ monsters spent years denying a link between cigarettes and cancer with the pithy, yet stupid comment: “it’s only statistical evidence”. When most have clearly never studied statistics, let alone understands the science.

Yes these are the same people who 500 years ago begged Columbus to stay home lest he fall off the edge of the planet.  The people who killed others for saying the Earth revolves around the sun.  The ones who decided that swans were created from barnacles on ships and that hauled John Scopes into court for teaching evolution.  Yes these are folks who feel their religious beliefs trump science and the rest of us need to yield to their beliefs.  These so called religious people can’t believe that their god would create a universe based on the laws of physics and create life that evolves and adapts over long periods of time.  I guess their god doesn’t have the rational thinking needed to creat such wonders?  Maybe they’re just narrow thinkers, followers of uninformed leaders.

When it comes to global warming, it’s certainly reasonable to debate how much man has contributed to this problem and what can be done to fight it, but to deny the fact that it exists and is getting worse is to uninformed or dishonest.  Will all those who disbelieve, please swap land with those living near or below sea level?  Now that’s a solution to global warming — LOL.

I’m proud to announce a new venture, A Little Green Book, llc. a book publishing company.  A Little Green Book is planned as a series of pocket size paperbacks on a variety of green topics.  Our first two books, authored by Pink Hat and myself are available now at Lulu.com.  We are currently printing our first edition, which will be more widely available by mid April.  A Little Green Book is committed to bring green bloggers to print and the mainstream book business.

My book, is A Little Green Book of Environmental Quotes and Comments, presents about 120 famous quotes on nature and the environment, with comments from me.  This is not a scholarly work, but more of a conscienceness raising tool; a way for people to think about the environment using the quotes and comments to fuel discussion.  I hope those who buy it will enjoy it.

Pink Hat’s book is A Little Green Book of Organic Gardening Tips, which puts together about 125 tips for gardening with a … greener thumb?  This book presents a different tip on everypage, on topics ranging from planting location, feeding and maintaining your plants.  As the spring attempts to make it’s presence felt, grab a copy of this gardening book and let us know what you think.

 Please join us in celebrating our move into publishing and thanks for your ongoing support.

That old Hollywood line, actually a misquote, has been used for comic relief more than a few times since the Treasure of the Sierra.  And while you may have hoped this would be another, that’s about all the humor………….

 The reason i bring up badges, is because of the CO2 offset badge there on the upper right of this website. It represents that this web site is running carbon neutral by virtue of a carbon offset provided by 4Offsets.com.  4Offsets.com helps individual and businesses offset their CO2 emissions as a way to speed adoption of renewable.  These offsets are based on CO2 offset commodity contracts, that have been ‘retired’ from circulation.  The contracts were awarded to people, projects and companies for efforts that eliminate emissions of greenhouse gases.  The contracts, that might be awarded to a wind farm or for planting and maintaining a forest, are sold to companies who have either a legal or self-imposed madate to reduce their CO2 production.  The theory and the reality, is that this market helps to increase the cashflow on green investments.  As the demand for these offsets increase and the price increases, the amount of money an offset will deliver to green project will increase the investment’s rate of return.  The next part is that the higher rate of return will attract more investment and therefore more wind, solar, and trees, at an increasingly fast pace.

I wrote about these carbon offsets and their use by Aspen Skiing and the concern, expressed by Aspen Ski’s environmental officer, these offsets really are helping speed change.  Following some research, I’ve concluded that while the offset market is less effective at incentivizing green energy, than $100 a barrel oil, it is a sound theory.  Any additional return on investment helps to increase it’s attractiveness.  This is especially true for new, expensive technologies such as solar.  If the market for these offsets increase, causing the price of offsets to generally rise, it will further fuel the march to a sustainable world.

The result of my research was to decide that i should focus my business efforts on fighting the greenhouse crisis and that carbon dioxide offsets are the best option available to ‘kick start’ US society’s shift away from hydrocarbon fuels.  I would like to announce that i have joined with a couple of friends to create a CO2 offset business at www.4Offsets.com.  We currently are running our beta testing, so please let us know what you think.

The USA finally relented and stopped blocking an agreement on negotiating a new climate change treaty.  The frustration of the conference with US intransigence, finally came out when Papua New Guinea delegate, Kevin Conrad, challeged the US: “If for some reason you are not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us. Please, get out of the way.” A statement directed at James Connaughton who indicated earlier in the week that the US was leading and other countries “…requires others to fall in line and follow”.  Following an outbreak of boos and catcalls by the international delegates at the US,  ambassador Paula Dobriansky relented. 

Ambassador Dobriansky told the conference “We came here to Bali because we want to go forward as part of a new framework.  We believe we have a shared vision and we want to move that forward. We want a success here in Bali. We will go forward and join consensus.”