Carbon Credits

Here is an interesting story on trees. Bottom line:

“If a tree is submerged in water, its carbon will be stored for an average of 2,000 years,” said Richard Guyette, director of the MU Tree Ring Lab and research associate professor of forestry in the School of Natural Resources in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. “If a tree falls in a forest, that number is reduced to an average of 20 years, and in firewood, the carbon is only stored for one year.”

Based on that, the California Air resources board want to include trees/farmers in the carbon credit game.

Let’s play.
I’m a farmer and I have 800 acres. 200 are filled with trees. 600 are farmed.

I register those 200 trees as being “potentially felled”. Why? Because now people will pay me not to fell them!!
All of a sudden the credits are coming out of no where!!!

People will do anything to “look” good (buy carbon credits to claim 0 carbon footprint). Now try actually doing what you think “look’s good”. Maybe buying the credit but not using it. Save a tree AND the carbon….

footnote:
If this post confuses anyone on my stance, I think trading credits is bs. Either we have a problem and need to trash the economy to fix it, or we need to just in general take care of the earth because it’s out job.

Aw yes, those political “freelancers”

Here in this NYtimes article we have a fair and balanced (cough, cough) look at the political freelancers working the internet this season.

Let’s see we have example 1:

The video blasted across the Internet, drawing political blood from Senator John McCain within a matter of days……………..it juxtaposed harsh statements about Islam made by the Rev. Rod Parsley with statements from Mr. McCain praising Mr. Parsley, a conservative evangelical leader.

Hits on Youtube, 5million. Results, Mr. McCain rejected Mr. Parsley’s support.

Moving on, example 2:

…..Paul Villarreal, who from his apartment in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., has produced a harsh series of spots that attack Mr. Obama and make some claims that have been widely debunked.

Hits on Youtube, 50,000. No results

example 3 produced by an Evil Evangelical Christian (maybe it doesn’t say evil):

The segment’s announcer notes that Mr. Obama’s father was Muslim, asserts that the candidate attended a Muslim grammar school in Indonesia for two years, and asks, “When we are at war with Islamic terrorism, can Americans elect a man with not one, not two, but three Islamic names?” One onscreen image shows Mr. Obama’s face morphed with that of Osama bin Laden.

Mr. Mitchell says he sticks close to the factual record, but the video has been widely criticized as over the line. Mr. Obama is a Christian. The school he attended in Indonesia was secular.

Hits “millions”. Results, a “Fight the Smears” website for Obama.

Yes folks, there are freelancers out there taking what Mr. McCain says “out of context” and “smearing” Obama.

It’s a good thing someone at the times can do the limbo based on their smear of McCain in Feb.