Pirate's Cove

I have made it a point to mostly stay away from the whole carbon footprint issue, as I do not want to get involved in a complete scam. "But what about global warming, Teach?" Global warming isn't a complete scam, as it is more then likely happening. Hey, temps go up, temps go down. We came out of the Little Ice Age in the mid 1800's, and things are happening that raise the temps, including some of what Mankind does. What is a scam is claiming that it is all, or at least most of, Man's fault, then playing games with gullible consumers (from the Independent)

The Carbon Trust is launching a green equivalent to the Fairtrade label – a consumer label which details the carbon footprint of a product and a commitment by its producer to reduce it.

Several major brand products, including Walkers crisps (carbon footprint: 75g), Boots Organics shampoo (148g) and Innocent smoothies (294g), will test the use of the logo – a white arrow wrapped in a black letter C. Over time it is expected that many more will join, raising the prospect that products might be marketed on the basis that they have the lowest carbon footprint in their marketplace.

The first product to be stamped with the logo will be Walkers cheese and onion crisps – the company's best-selling flavour. The Carbon Trust has enabled the company to identify the footprint of the three competing products in its range – crisps, Quavers and Doritos – by tracing its production cycle from the potato and corn producers at the start to recycling consultants at the end.

As a result, Walkers has reduced the carbon footprint of the product by a third. The trust established that farmers were hydrating potatoes to make them weigh more, because they were being paid a price per ton. Potatoes were stored in artificially humidified sheds to increase their water content. Humidifiers use large amounts of energy and generate significant emissions.

If it looks like a scam, and acts like a scam, it must be a scam.

I wonder what the carbon footprint is of the Independent. Publishing a newspaper kills a lot of trees, even if recycled paper is being used. And quite a bit of CO2 is put in the atmosphere as the papers are delivered. Interesting.

And, really, who is setting the limits? Scientists, or politicians? If putting all that CO2 into the atmosphere is bad, then why is a slightly reduced amount OK? Why not push to cut it all? Because it is a scam? Damn, I shoulda figured.

Trackposted to Basil's Banned In China Blog, Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, http://morewhat.com/wordpress/?p=1158, sissunchi, Right Celebrity, Faultline USA, stikNstein… has no mercy, Maggie's Notebook, The World According to Carl, Shadowscope, The Pink Flamingo, Leaning Straight Up, Cao's Blog, and Jo's Cafe, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.