PG&E invests to restore forests, offset carbon emissionsEmphasis added. The only saving grace is that this is, so far, a voluntary program for ratepayers.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Tuesday it will pay about $2 million to help restore two California redwood forests as part of a ratepayer-funded program to offset the utility's greenhouse gas emissions.
PG&E's ClimateSmart program will invest the money in restoration projects in the Garcia River Forest in Mendocino County and the Lompico Headwaters Forest in Santa Cruz County.
The "carbon offsets" are the first purchased by ClimateSmart, which allows PG&E customers to pay an extra fee to offset emissions from their electricity and gas usage.Well. Isn't that nice of them to allow customers to pay extra.
More than 17,500 customers have enrolled in the program since it was launched in June, and the average residential customer pays less than $5 a month to participate.Proving P.T. Barnum right yet again.
Somehow I am reminded of the Puritanical concept of guilt, and of self-flagellation, although I don't think the Puritans practiced that. Feeling gratified that you can pay extra to have forests planted to assuage the guilt you have for merely existing on planet Earth and not devolving to a hunter-gatherer society - doesn't it kind of fit in there?
Posted by: Laura(southernxyl) at February 27, 2008 09:20 AMYeah, the Puritans were more into flagellating other people. Kind of like some of the Greens.
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at February 27, 2008 09:59 AMActually, I think that the analogy du jour for greenies buying off their guilt through "carbon credits" is that indulgences, in the form that elements of the Catholic Church abused.
Posted by: The_Real_JeffS at February 27, 2008 02:29 PM