Airlines are not public service organisations for the benefit of all,
they are in the business of making the greatest amount of profit they
can for their shareholders. I would regard a "Carbon offset" scheme
run by an airline with a shovelful of salt. I think the temptation
for corporations to use such schemes to assist with profits would be
too great to resist. Many Carbon offset schemes around the world are
already unravelling and the administration costs of many schemes have
been found to be up to 80% of cash inputs. There seems to be little
independent auditing of these schemes.
If you want to see the most benefit from the money you calculate as
being sufficient to pay for a Carbon offset, put it away in an old
sock or under your mattress, and use it to buy trees for a tree
planting scheme and even better use your own labour to help plant the
the trees. I am sure Carol Proberts would welcome your money and time
for tree planting in the Capertee Valley. And you would also be
helping the Regent Honeyeater recovery.
Carl Clifford
On 02/01/2008, at 10:37 AM, Dave Torr wrote:
In any case, many airlines now allow you to purchase "carbon offsets" to
counter the effect of your flight, so those who are concerned can
make the
effort. Whether this is totally effective is of course debatable -
and when
I tried to do it for a recent Jetstar flight the booking system told
me how
much the extra was but then insisted on billing me for only the basic
flight
cost without the extra!
On 02/01/2008, Tony Russell <> wrote:
I must say I agree with Alistair and Michael and Jill on this. Anyone
whose life becomes dictated by how much carbon usage they incur
must be
either not very interested in the excitement and fun that birding
travel
can provide, or so caught up in the carbon debate that they are unable
to see any other point of view. I'm not suggesting that the carbon
issue is of no importance, but crikey, we need some balance and
need to
get a life in the meantime.
Life is too short.
Tony.
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of michael norris
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 9:17 AM
To: Alastair Smith; 'BIRDING-AUS'
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] The Biggest Twitch - and Carbon
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