I watched An Inconvenient Truth for the first time today, then went to the NativeEnergy’s website to look into buying renewable energy credits. Using the money from credit purchases, NativeEnergy funds new renewable power projects like windfarms and a diary farm renewable methane project. According to their website:
With NativeEnergy, you can help finance and build new clean and renewable energy projects that help Native Americans and Alaska Natives create sustainable economic benefits, and that help America’s family farmers compete with agribusiness. These projects will displace electricity from fossil fuels and reduce other greenhouse gas emissions on your behalf, making up for the CO2 emissions you can’t avoid.
When I did the calculations with their web tool, it turns out that I probably produce about three tons of CO2 a year (as opposed to the national average of 7.5 tons/year). This wasn’t surprising, as I don’t own a car, walk to work every day, and only fly occasionally. What was surprising was the cost to offset those three tons: only $36.
So, for just $36, I’m now carbon neutral.
