Car Talk Does Global Warming

Even Car Talk is going green. Car Talk has posted a fun and educational interview with Adam Stein, VP of marketing for TerraPass, and Tom Boucher, president and CEO of NativeEnergy.

TerraPass' mission is to develop and market economically viable products that combat global warming by mitigating human-made environmental emissions. I've written a bunch about NativeEnergy, which is a noted provider of carbon offsets.

(Thanks to the folks at autobloggreen.com for flagging this interview.)

An excerpt:

Car Talk: What does it mean to offset the carbon dioxide that's emitted by your car?

Tom: Think of offsetting as a counterbalance. You're simply taking an extra step to reduce your impact on the environment. Assuming you need to drive, you can't stop your car from emitting carbon dioxide. But, you can fund the construction of new, renewable energy projects that will displace carbon emissions from other sources, like coal burning electricity plants. That's the offset, which is done on your behalf.

Adam: You can sponsor a verified, measurable reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by, for example, funding clean energy projects such as wind farms, methane digesters or efficiency projects. At first it may sound like a shell game, but it really works. And it's surprisingly cheap.


Car Talk: But, just to be upfront, you guys are making money by being a broker. You're getting people to donate to clean energy, and taking a piece off the top, right?

Adam: Yes, there's nothing mysterious about it. We're a retailer. We buy wholesale, sell to customers, and add enough margin to keep our web servers running. Solar panel makers, wind farm developers, biodiesel manufacturers — all are for-profit enterprises. We think it's a good thing when companies can sustain themselves by providing an environmental service. Climate change is a long-term problem, and we hope to be around for the long term as well.

Tom: Business is a very powerful tool, and to solve the climate crisis we need every tool at our disposal. We imagine a world where everyone does well by doing good.

Snow Bowl Ski Area Goes Green

Those folks at NativeEnergy have gotten to be really popular lately. They pop up in my Google Alerts daily with yet another outfit that has bought their carbon offsets. The roster includes such diverse organizations as Salesforce.com and the Global Green pre-Oscar party. Now the Snow Bowl, a ski area run by Middlebury College, has gone green, according to our very own Boston Globe:

Middlebury College, which owns and operates the Snow Bowl, is paying to offset every molecule of carbon dioxide -- the primary "greenhouse gas" that contributes to global warming -- emitted from groomers, lift operations, base lodge heating, off-site electric generation used to power lights and appliances, and even the carbon dioxide emitted by the cars skiers and snowboarders use to drive there. The college's alpine and cross-country ski teams are also on board, paying to offset their air and car travel to and from training and races, as well as the electricity used in the coaches' offices.

The idea was the brainchild of Thomas Hand, a Middlebury graduate, who now works for NativeEnergy, a Native American-owned company headquartered in Charlotte, Vermont. NativeEnergy funds Native American, farmer-owned and community-based renewable energy projects. Organizations buy carbon offsets from NativeEnergy, which in turn invests in wind farms, methane projects and the like.

NativeEnergy was just named to Fast Company's Fast 50, which highlights "50 profit-driven solutions for what ails the planet." You can read their write-up here.

Carbon Offsets: The Perfect Eco-Wedding Gift!

At first, I thought this was a Valentine's Day spoof, but it's not. The well-regarded Native American energy company, NativeEnergy, has teamed up with Protovert, "the first and only magazine for eco-savvy brides and grooms."

NativeEnergy helps build Native American, farmer-owned, community-based renewable energy projects that aim to create social, economic and environmental benefits. (Most of the projects are wind based.) The company is working with Salesforce.com on its recently announced carbon neutral initiative, along with lots of other organizations such as Coca-Cola, Ben & Jerry's, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Timberland and Stonyfield Farm.

Back to our eco-wedding planning. According to the press release:

"Weddings are a special way to announce a lifetime commitment," says Portovert Magazine's editorial director, Meghan Meyers. "But the truth is, even the most eco-savvy couple will create carbon emissions on their wedding day."

At a special section of the NativeEnergy website, you can plug the data from your wedding into a calculator to see the total global warming impact from the projected energy consumption. If you can't afford to be 100% carbon neutral, you can aim for a percentage, or offset the reception or honeymoon, the site suggests. At the end of the process, you can click a button to buy the appropriate level of offsets.

Next year, they need to team up with weddingchannel.com, so that the bride and groom can add Carbon Offsets (no gift wrap needed) to their registry.