Thinking about my ecological footprint

I was reading Robert Jensen's book All My Bones Shake, and in the section on living sustainably, he mentions this interesting website by Redefining Progress that estimates your ecological footprint. I took their quiz, found at www.myfootprint.org, and discovered that if everyone in the world lived like my partner and I we would need 4 Earths. We didn't do too badly, relative to the country average, even though I had to include my wife's 7000 miles traveled by plane per year! Check out the site. There might be more like it, though, that use other methods to estimate your footprint. The aspect of the site that I wondered about was Coca-cola's sponsorship. I wonder what Coke's ecological footprint would be?!?! Well, anyway, here are my results.

An environmental reflection on my train ride to Chicago

In a few weeks I'm going by train to Chicago to attend the Chicago Blues Festival. I love taking the train for the ride itself, especially when the ride is short (like a few hours or so, not the 2 day trip across the country I sometimes take). But another reason I want to take the train is that, as mass transport, it cuts down on our carbon emissions. Like many people, I believe that we need to begin examining how we can best conserve resources, stop polluting, and get away from the car as the primary means of transport.

So, in getting my Chicago trip arranged, I happily booked my ride via Amtrak, and in doing so, was surprised to see on Amtrak's website a suggestion that my contribution to global carbon emissions be offset by a contribution to the CarbonFund. I checked out the CarbonFund website and initially thought that its goal was worthwhile; it offered a means to contribute individually to environmental projects while connecting that contribution to one's current carbon use.

But my lingering questions and doubts evolved to be outright skepticism.

First, will carbon offsetting help reduce carbon emissions? Or conversely, will carbon offsetting promote carbon emissions by making us feel good about traveling again. It reminds me of my childhood when I would go to Reconciliation, the Catholic Church's offering of absolution for sins committed. Except now, for liberals and leftists traveling, we seek absolution for environmental sins yet to be committed. I suspect that we're trying to avoid the pain of real resource conservation, perhaps wanting to eat our cake and have it too.

The other problem is, being based on the market, it is open to manipulation by the polluting companies. An article in Business Week (3/26/2007) gives details of how companies profited by the carbon-offsetting outfit, Terrapass, by taking credit and getting paid for clean-up projects that were either happening anyway or mandated by the government.

I need to look more into this issue. I always felt that the environment was a collective problem that required a collective solution, even if as individuals we can do our part. At the very least, whether or not I decide to offset my Chicago trip, I need to resist the logic of feel-good environmentalism and face squarely my love of travel and how (and if) that can be done with sustainability in mind.

cap and trade

I first heard about cap and trade at this 2007 Labor and Sustainability Conference in Minneapolis where Jack Rasmus argued against it. According to Rasmus, market-based cap and trade did nothing to bring down carbon emission in Europe. Moreover, in creating a cap and trade market, we are potentially subjecting ourselves to even more market bubbles and busts. Many on the left argue instead for carbon taxes and heavy public investment in green infrastructure.

This debate on Democracy Now! (5/22/09) reveals, I believe, the problems with cap and trade.

Founders' Grove

We're in the process of buying a house in the Founders' Grove neighborhood of Bloomington, Illinois, and I wanted to take this opportunity to kick off my blog entries on areas and sites in the Bloomington-Normal area.

Founders' Grove is my favorite neighborhood in Bloomington-Normal, with its beautiful old houses, and tree-lined streets and blooming flowers. Its location is perfect for somebody trying to ditch the car and take up biking and walking. Half mile from a grocery store, half-mile from the Constitution Trail (which shoots straight north to ISU), less than a mile to downtown Bloomington. And for me currently, it's 4 blocks from where I work! Click on some of the links to see pictures of the neighborhood.

Articles on Founders Grove:
TC style (February 28, 2008)

Environmental destruction under Obama

A blogger friend of mine, Carl, pointed out the astounding juxtaposition of these news stories on Democracy Now (5/18/09). Taken separately and together, it wasn't a good day for the environment.

General Electric Begins Dredging Hudson River
General Electric has begun dredging for PCBs in the Hudson River, twenty-five years after the contamination was deemed a federal Superfund site. GE discharged as much as 1.3 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson before PCBs were banned in 1977. The contaminated sediment will be transported by train to a hazardous waste site in Andrews, Texas, near the New Mexico border. The Sierra Club in Texas has opposed the plan. Neil Carman said, “All they’re doing is relocating toxic waste. They’re moving a problem from one location to another [and] creating problems for future generations to solve.” While GE is paying to clean up the river, the company is still challenging the constitutionality of the Superfund law in federal court.

Obama Taps GE Attorney to be Nation’s Top Environmental Litigator Meanwhile, President Obama has tapped a top attorney at General Electric to be the nation’s top environmental litigator. If confirmed, Ignacia Moreno would lead the Justice Department’s efforts to enforce environmental laws and defend federal regulations in lawsuits. Her selection has concerned many environmental groups. Frank O’Donnell of Clean Air Watch said, “It seems as if she has spent maybe more time defending polluters than prosecuting them.”

Obama Administration OKs New Mountaintop Removal Permits
In other environmental news, the Obama administration has given the green light for forty-two more mountaintop removal permits, dealing a victory for the coal industry. Mountaintop mining involves blowing off the tops of mountains to get at the coal underneath. (Democracy Now! 5/18/09)

On the issue of the Ignacio Moreno pick for top environmental litigator, the New York Times (5/15/09) has a good story and also reports the concerns held by the environmental groups.

Obama's decision on the mountaintop removal permits should be seen in light of a campaign speech made in Lexington, Kentucky on August 27, 2007. The following report of that speech is published on Barack Obama's website:

He said the country also needs a forward-thinking energy policy, and he alluded to his disapproval of the coal mining process of mountaintop removal.

"We're tearing up the Appalachian Mountains because of our dependence on fossil fuels," he said, sparking loud applause.

One view is that Obama is facing pressure from the polluting industries and capitulating. The industry is powerful, no doubt, but I tend to think that Obama is and was a corporate politician and acting accordingly.