In the shower this morning I was reflecting on how I'll travel three times around the world this year. Those close to me will know my next thoughts were of regret - I'm trashing the planet.
What about the great and the good, the self righteous eco-warriors, Al Gore and co whose first class or private jet airmiles dwarf mine. Why should I feel guilty I protested to myself?
'Carbon Offsetting', of course, is the answer. But here, in the shower, was my revelation: in 'Offsetting' we have the modern day equivalent of selling indulgences - both are totally ineffective at doing what they claim to, both are designed to fleece money off Joe Public to make someone else wealthy and both help the person being fleeced to feel good about themselves.
My thoughts then moved on. The other month we had a 'save energy day' in the UK. People were encouraged, for 24 hours, to switch off as much electrical power as possible to see what difference it could make - in honor of the occasion a bunch of MPs deliberately left their office lights on all night. Their protest must have worked because in those 24 hours more electricity was used than previous or following 24 hour period!
Anyone inclined to respond with moral outrage should remember the save energy hour, day or whatever it was called in Melbourne earlier this year (ironically happening as our plane from the UK was landing so I can tell you that Melbourne looks much better with the lights on). Every restaurant in North Fitzroy swapped their electrical lights for candles that night. The next day amateur scientists, bloggers and then eventually the mainstream press took great delight in showing that the emissions from making and burning a candle dwarfed those from infinitely more efficient electrical lighting.
This last anecdote, for me at least, perfectly sums up the green religion - ineffective tokenism. The McMansions in Berwick with electrical lights blazing were pumping out less carbon than the greenies huddling around a candle in North Fitzroy!
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