Travelling In Style

I had to laugh when I read that Cpt. Kyoto aka David Suzuki was making his way across this country in a diesel tour bus. Suzuki is presently engaged in a 30 day cross-Canada tour trying to raise awareness of environmental issues and lecture us all on the evils of greenhouse gas emissions. It wasn’t until his little merry band landed here in Winnipeg that a journalist finally pointed out the irony of travelling across Canada in a fuel guzzling emission spewing diesel tour bus.

When asked why the hell seven or eight people needed to travel in a rock-star style tour bus David Suzuki Foundation spokesman Jason Curran said,
“If we could have walked the distance, we would have.”

Huh? Nobody is suggesting the Suzuki Seven walk across Canada. There are plenty of alternatives to a diesel tour bus. When asked why they didn’t find a biodiesel bus Curran replied,
“We were hoping to have biodiesel. But we were told towards the beginning of the tour - for this company that we’re going through - that it would void the warranty.”

What? Void the warranty? Cpt. Kyoto has been lecturing us all ad nauseum on the benefits of car pooling, using smaller fuel efficient vehicles and public transit because the future of the planet is at stake and then chooses a diesel spewing tour bus because of a warranty issue? I suppose we are all to inconvenience ourselves except for the Grand Poobah himself who by the way urged Toronto’s mayor to adopt a pollution bylaw when he and his entourage were in that city.

But the best part of all of this is their attempt at rationalization by claiming that the tour is carbon neutral.
“At the end of the tour, we will calculate the total emissions from the tour, and purchase high-quality carbon offsets that support renewable energy and energy efficiency projects,” said Paul Lingl, a climate-change specialist with the foundation. The group says it’s buying what it terms “gold standard” carbon offsets from myclimate, a Zurich, Switzerland-based non-profit company that funds energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

I see. So in other words you can pollute all you want as long as you offset it by investing a corresponding amount in clean energy. What the hell are we talking about - the environment or accounting? This is as ridiculous as claiming a pedophile may absolve himself of any blame as long as he gives to the Boy Scouts.

Of course this is one of the major problems with Kyoto itself. One can actually claim that their activities cause no net addition of emissions by investing in green projects that offset those emissions - a common practice in accounting.

The Cpt. should practice what he preaches.

Update: This is for Nilk

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