This is not a long and difficult task tonight. It's pretty straight forward to understand the 'sales pitch' we have all been handed to reduce the threat of Climate Change due to Human Induced Global Warming.
The Kyoto Protocol is currently the treaty to address Climate Change caused by Human Induced Global Warming. During the proceedings of Kyoto the USA wanted more flexibility in negotiating the emissions it was responsible for and so entered into 'amendments' to the protocol. Those amendments have proven to negate mostly the demands of countries to reduce the yield of carbon dioxide in the troposphere.
The Carbon Offset programs of Kyoto did not entice the biggest CO2 polluter, namely the USA to be a signatory of the Climate Change agreement. The option is being abused by government and business in the USA. If a country is not a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, it should be eliminated in trading in Carbon Credits AT ALL.
There is a great deal of folly in Carbon Trading and the average person 'get's it.'
I'm afraid this carbon offsetting doesn't wash with me. Yes, I see how you can balance carbon emissions against carbon uptake by trees, but it takes tens of years for trees to grow and offset all this carbon. And these trees, like humans and other animals are susceptible to the negative effects of acid rain and other pollution caused by burning fossil fuel. The trees don't offset that.
It's a neat idea to pay for the planting of trees and to raise cash to invest in renewable energy, but does it give people the incentive to cut down on their energy usage? I don't think so. It seems as much a white-wash as hybrid SUVs.
And what trees are these companies planting - and more importantly, where?
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/survey_of_carbo.php
The candidates that advocate carbon credits without first LIMITING the amount of carbon the USA can produce by signing Kyoto is playing any electorate for fools. If the USA is to be allowed to trade in carbon credits is needs to FIRST sign Kyoto and then set LIMITATIONS the amount of carbon any industry in the USA can produce.
