The green tags and carbon offsets can be abused by companies, but they do offer a true offset.

Suppose you wanted electricity in your house and your choices are to buy electricity from your coal burning utility belching co2, sulpher dioxide, etc. or building your own power generation from sun or wind. But you don't have enough wind or enough sun.

Buying green tags supports the building of alternative energy plants, wind, solar and other. If you buy green tags equal to the amount of power you have used, then you are creating renewable energy sources through your purchases. It is a was to buy part of a wind farm since you cannot create your own.

Green tags are a way individuals can soften ...

The green tags and carbon offsets can be abused by companies, but they do offer a true offset.

Suppose you wanted electricity in your house and your choices are to buy electricity from your coal burning utility belching co2, sulpher dioxide, etc. or building your own power generation from sun or wind. But you don't have enough wind or enough sun.

Buying green tags supports the building of alternative energy plants, wind, solar and other. If you buy green tags equal to the amount of power you have used, then you are creating renewable energy sources through your purchases. It is a was to buy part of a wind farm since you cannot create your own.

Green tags are a way individuals can soften their footprint. We created a society that consumes so much resource. It is difficult to live in America and not consume so much because in most places it has become difficult or impossible to use public transportation. If we cannot run our cars on reused vegetable oil, supporting alternative energies is a way to offset.

Unfortunately, my buying green tags does not help the air quality here in western North Carolina. the electricity produced with it is in windy areas. Our power plants here are mostly all coal burning and our air quality still suffers every time I use electricity.

THE BEST WAY TO REDUCE YOUR CARBON EMISSIONS IS TO USE LESS. Drive less. Turn down the heat. Turn off the air conditioner. Turn off lights when you aren't in the room, etc., etc. Unfortunately, most of those folks building multi-million dollar homes on their million dollar lots on the ridges in their gated golf communities could care less even though they breathe the same polluted air that I do. It's a conumdrum.

Carbon Offsets sold on eBay do nothing toward offsetting CO2, but the original purchase might have. It's like buying and selling a book. The author and publishers get proceeds from the original purchase, but not from subsequent purchases.

Green tags, which I'm most familiar are certified by Green-e and The Climate Neutral Network. The can be purchased to either support the pricing of alternative power our to provide capital for future wind farms or other initiatives.

The article clipped gives good information about what to avoid. In particular, avoid tree planting projects and climate exchange "allowances." Invest in specific projects such as methane capture or wind farms.

BUT most import...

Carbon Offsets sold on eBay do nothing toward offsetting CO2, but the original purchase might have. It's like buying and selling a book. The author and publishers get proceeds from the original purchase, but not from subsequent purchases.

Green tags, which I'm most familiar are certified by Green-e and The Climate Neutral Network. The can be purchased to either support the pricing of alternative power our to provide capital for future wind farms or other initiatives.

The article clipped gives good information about what to avoid. In particular, avoid tree planting projects and climate exchange "allowances." Invest in specific projects such as methane capture or wind farms.

BUT most importantly, REDUCE your consumption.

Even if we could invent a truly zero-emissions car, that left no pollution, we still have a massive environmental problem from all the roads and parking lots. Every car requires x amount of road and x amount of parking places waiting for it creating runoff into our waterways and reducing the CO2 absorbing forest that it replaces.

CO2 was classified as a pollutant in 1998 by the EPA. In 2003, under pressure from our current administration, it was declared not a pollutant. In 2005, the Kyoto Protocol was entered into force. It was ratified by 169 countries, but denied by Australia and the United States.

Our administration is closely tied to the oil industry and has tried to discredit studies about global warming.

In truth, no one knows the whole cause of our climate changing. However, anyone who spends much time hiking in our forests can tell you that there are dire changes in our natural environment at this point.

In our area of Western NC, mosses and lichens are dying from the increased sulfur dioxide from the c...

CO2 was classified as a pollutant in 1998 by the EPA. In 2003, under pressure from our current administration, it was declared not a pollutant. In 2005, the Kyoto Protocol was entered into force. It was ratified by 169 countries, but denied by Australia and the United States.

Our administration is closely tied to the oil industry and has tried to discredit studies about global warming.

In truth, no one knows the whole cause of our climate changing. However, anyone who spends much time hiking in our forests can tell you that there are dire changes in our natural environment at this point.

In our area of Western NC, mosses and lichens are dying from the increased sulfur dioxide from the coal burning power plants. Many trees are stressed and dying from the acidic rain from auto exhausts.

We need to pay attention.