Carbon efforts give hope

• Published May 12, 2008

The terms carbon offsets, carbon credits and carbon neutrality are appearing in advertising without definition or control.

Offsets and credits refer to 1-metric-ton units of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gasses that are not produced. Instead of energy coming from a coal- or oil-burning power plant, equal amounts of "clean" energy are purchased from renewable sources such as solar, wind, biomass, hydroelectric or geothermal generators. Offsets and credits also can be created through establishment of carbon sinks, such as forests, that absorb CO2. If the buyer offsets all of the greenhouse gases he or she generates through the acquisition of enough credits and/or offsets, carbon neutrality is achieved.

April 22 at Safeco Field saw a Seattle Mariners baseball win over the Baltimore Orioles and the first carbon-neutral game in Major League Baseball history. The Mariners bought 58,000 kilowatt-hours of "green power" credits from the Seattle City Light Green-Up program and purchased carbon offsets from NativeEnergy, a Vermont-based for-profit company that deals with new renewable-energy projects. Additionally, last year, the Mariners recycled 342 tons of plastic, cans and paper products and became one of two major-league teams to recycle food waste. The Mariners sent 100 tons of food scraps and food-contaminated paper for composting.

Other recent high-profile carbon-neutral events were this year's Academy Awards and Super Bowl XLII. Locally, we have several renewable-energy options within Puget Sound Energy's Green Power Program, including 100 percent renewable-source energy for one-eighth of a cent per kilowatt-hour above the standard rate. The Evergreen State College has committed to purchasing all its power from green sources through fees agreed to by the students.

Last year, Volkswagen offered to plant enough trees, in the name of a new-car buyer, to absorb the CO2 released in the production of the car and its first year of driving. Dell Computers offers to "offset" an individual for a year for $99. In 2007, corporations and consumers directed

$54 million to balance emissions in this way.

Corporations now contract out the generation and sales of offsets and credits to specialist companies and nonprofits. These intermediaries also will sell additional credits to the firm in question, such as Dell, so they can be carbon-neutral in production, which is a positive tool in advertising. Consumers then can feel virtuous when using carbon-neutral products.

While there has been no evidence of false advertising, the Federal Trade Commission was concerned enough to hold a hearing in January on carbon offsets because the FTC environmental advertising guidelines are out of date, and there has been a rapid expansion of green marketing such as carbon credits, carbon offsets and carbon-neutrality. The results of the hearing have not been released.

Hopefully, the federal government will support carbon offsets and credits while making sure those offering them live up to their promises. It is true the option of purchasing of such options is a way of rationalizing one's behavior, and these are not perfect systems. However, they are hopeful examples showing people care and are beginning to act.

Oscar Soule is a retired environmental-sciences professor from The Evergreen State College.