Green Bits from The Economist

From from The Economist, on Economist.com, August 13, 2007:

Carbon connoisseur

The baffling menu of emissions-offsets option

When all you want is a drinkable wine at an affordable price, the sommelier's list in a posh restaurant can seem more of a hindrance than a help. So it is with carbon offsets. The list of options can seem long and confusing when set against the simple objective of getting somebody else to reduce greenhouse gases on your behalf. And, given the intangible nature of offsets, buying a dodgy short on a tonne of carbon is just as easy as getting a corked bottle.

Quality is the offset market's most pressing issue, according to a new study of the voluntary carbon market by Ecosystem Marketplace and New Carbon Finance. The report counted 14 third-party offset standards, and seven registries, few of which are more than a year old. Offset retailers that accredit and verify their own products according to proprietary standards at least double these totals. With the price of offsetting a tonne of CO2 ranging from 45 cents to $45, and growing fears of sharp practice by "carbon cowboys," the industry needs guidance on quality.

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From The Economist, on Economist.com, July 16th, 2007:

Losing sleep over climate change

Poor countries may be worried than rich ones

The biggest problem in the fight against climate change is the issue of how to involve poor countries. Developing-country governments are reluctant to bear the costs of averting climate change. Two reasons are generally given: first, that rich countries are largely responsible for global warming, and second, that people in developing countries have more immediate problems to worry about.

The first point is indisputable. Industrialisation is the rich world started long before that in the poor world; carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for around 200 years, so developed countries have contributed far more of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than developing ones have.

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From The Economist, on Economist.com, August 6th, 2007:

Another man's poisson

The argument for giving up fish

No meal could have been more perfect than a seafood feast I enjoyed on the beach last week in the San Juan Islands, off the coast in Washington state. A friend and I fired up a grill using twigs gathered from nearby driftwood (yes, it's legal). Our stockpile included a dozen oysters fresh from a nearby farm, plus a slab of tender Alaskan salmon that we marinated in Teriyaki sauce and grilled to a scrumptious pinky-brown. It was definitely the best moment of the summer.

Gather your oysters while ye may - because, come September, fish will be banned from my diet. I tried this once before, when I became a vegetarian at the age of ten. The precipitating event was a pig-roast picnic held by my grandparents. I can still remember my anguish as that huge animal turned slowly on a pit.

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