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The 15,000 politicians, civil servants, green and industry lobbyists and journalists who will fly in are estimated to emit the equivalent of more than 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the annual emissions of the African state of Chad.--Telegraph
The irony wasn't lost on bloggers that hundreds of activists, environmentalists, and politicians, jumped on jets to attend the Bali Conference on Climate Change. Google for "irony" and "climate change Bali" and you'll get a browser full of snark.
Via E-Ramblings come this little factoid from Scott Kirwin
So in order to cover the 40,000 metric tons we would have to plant roughly 2,000,000 trees in the tropics.
Sister Toldja has a great round up on the reporting around the irony/hypocrisy/exploitation (you choose your adjective).
I’ve got a suggestion: How about they offset this conference by cancelling that Nobel Peace prize concert big Nobel “win” in October, a concert which promises to be, ahem, as ‘helpful’ to the environment as Live Earth was?
Who'd have guessed that Greenpeace would be the most forgiving organization of the conference's critics? From their blog devoted to the proceedings:
There has been a lot of talk about the carbon footprint of the Bali climate talks. Questioning the carbon footprint of big events like this is justified. And clearly not everybody who is on Bali needs to be here. Take the stuck in the rut climate sceptics, for example! But let's also keep in mind, that this conference emits only as much CO2 as running the planned new coal power plant at Neurath for a mere 20 hours or so.--Greenpeace's Bali Conference Blog
Face it. Travelers, whether they're jetting to vacation spots or big powwows about oil, leave a huge stain on the environment. Hey,on our recent trip, we took a handful of flights and did our rental car company offer us a hybrid? Nope, no go. And while we're scraping the bucks together for our next trip, are we going to actually budget the cost of carbon offsets in there? I'm guessing that for most, that's considered optional, well after the 4.50 airport lattes and "My parents went to the climate change conference and all I got was this lousy green t-shirt" souvenirs.
Personally, I'd like see travel industry take charge by giving travelers greener affordable choices. Make carbon offsets a part of the cost of travel by including an option to buy offsets with tickets (Silverjet does this). Make hybrid rental cars an option. Keep up the good work with the laundry, hotels, but there's a lot more you can do - landscaping comes to mind, and alternative power sources like solar in places like Hawaii and for the love of god, Vegas. It's easy to blame travelers, but they're not building a carbon spewing jets or energy sucking 12 acre swimming pools or golf courses in the arid zones. Travelers can make choices, certainly, but industry has to do better.
With the conference over and celebrity greensters jetting back to their homes, will those that attended the conference lead travelers by example or by policy?
Related:
Eco Living: Travel Carbon-Neutral This Holiday Season
Follow the Green Brick Road
Pam blogs about travel and other adventures at Nerd's Eye View.
