Global Harming

The latest bit of lunacy to sweep the country is "carbon-efficiency offsets," a pay-as-you-go system of credit that presumably makes someone feel better about being a one-person ecological disaster. The idea is that an individual with a 3000 square foot house who drives a hummer and scoots around the country in a private jet can atone for all that energy waste by buying these offsets, the money from which is directed toward programs that are meant to help the environment. The more energy you account for personally, the more you pay. Kind of like drinking diet soda so you can pig out on cake and ice cream. As someone noted, it's like buying "indulgences" was in the middle ages. Until Martin Luther came along and stopped the practice, rich folks could sin all they wanted as long as they kept pumping money into the church. Instead of the fat bishops lining their pockets, now it's the geniuses who operate these schemes and can legally skim off a high percentage of every dollar for themselves as "administration" costs. A better idea is for everyone to start acting responsibly and cut back their energy usage. Responsibility? Wow, what a concept!