Inspired by Chuck Templeton’s post on Carbon Offsets, called Carbon Credits, Good or Bad?, I started to do some research on some local programs that offer carbon credits when I came across Delta Carbon, a project of the Delta Institute. The Delta Institute has been implementing programs to improve environmental quality and promoting economic development for the past ten years, with several active projects, like the ReBuilding Exchange, BuyingBetter.org, and Delta Carbon, to name a couple. The Delta Institute works with Illinois and Michigan farmers, foresters and other landowners to fight global warming and earn and sell greenhouse gas emissions credits by adopting conservation practices on hundreds of thousands of acres.
I recently spent 3 days at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association Fair (along with thousands of other attendees) in Custer, WI, a rural area of Wisconsin just outside of from Stevens Point. The Midwest Renewable Energy Association has the mission of promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable living through education and demonstration and the Energy Fair is just one of the ways they are working towards the mission. This was the 21st annual fair, which is always held the third weekend in June, and featured over 200 workshops, including those on energy auditing, eco architecture, permaculture, alternative energy and over 275 exhibitors. The fair was not only educational with keynote speakers including Bill McKibben, Jeremy Solin and Amanda Little, but also entertaining with live music and local beer.
There is a lot of hubbub about carbon credits (also known as offsets) and whether they are good or bad? Some say they are an excuse for allowing those living an indulgent life not to take responsible for their own actions. In addition, there have been examples of companies that sell carbon offsets that are suspect in their actual implementation and effectiveness of lowering carbon. As defined by Wikipedia: A carbon offset is a financial instrument representing a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. One carbon offset represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide or equivalent amount of green house causing gasses. So what’s the skinny on them?
Holland is known for many things, like clogs, windmills, great cheese and bikes. Bikes? Yes, bikes!
This video shows why Holland is sometimes referred to as the biking capital of the world. Take a look at rush hour in Utrecht, Holland. Looks different than Chicago rush hour, doesn’t it?
Independence: I said this before, but I think it’s funny that the thing (the auto) that is credited with giving our society our independence, is the thing we are most dependent on. We “need” it for shopping, we “need” it to get to our far away jobs, the industry “provides” employment, we use it for entertainment, it is a statement of our “individuality,” we get (or loose) status from driving specific kinds,… the list goes on of things we “need” it for. I would argue that you can build a life that is very liberating by actually not having a car. Not having the expenses in buying, maintaining, parking, filling with gas, tickets, tolls, repairs, insuring, … can be very up lifting. In addition, not having the burden of enriching foreign countries by purchasing the oil/gas we need to build and power them, all of the tax money spent improving roads and bridges year after year after year and just the responsibility we have in climate change impacts from the carbon generated.
Comments (1) 
Themocracy