21 August 2008

Holidaymakers don't understand carbon offsetting

The majority of Brits donÃ¢â¬â¢t understand carbon offsetting and many are convinced it is too expensive to consider, according to new research from Expedia.

The study of 2,000 adults, carried out by YouGov on behalf of the retailer, found that many in the UK are either confused or disinterested in carbon offsetting.

When asked what they understood by carbon offsetting, only 35 per cent answered correctly. One in ten thought it meant walking instead of driving to work, whilst one per cent of men even thought it meant extinguishing the barbecue properly.

There is also confusion about how to offset commissions and how much it will all cost.

One third of Brits thought offsetting would cost them dearly and one in ten people said it would set them back up to Ã&#pound;500 to offset a flight to New York, when in reality it costs under Ã&#pound;10. Only three per cent of respondents knew the true cost of offsetting a flight.

The research went on to reveal that 28 per cent of respondents had no intention of offsetting their carbon footprint and a further quarter were still undecided about what action to take.

Almost nine in ten (89 per cent) do not feel the government is doing enough to raise awareness of the problem or giving sufficient advice on how to cut carbon emissions.

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Your Comments (2)

Stay home

If anyone truly believes this global warming theory that says man's use of fossil fuels is responsible for the slight global warming over the last century, then they are terrible people for using fossil fuels at all, much less for something as frivolous as a vacation. I advise all of them to stay home, including spokesmen who fly around the world in private jets to give speeches to the rest of us on how we should live lives of lowered expectations. In fact, if they live in anything larger than a cruise stateroom, they should invite others to come live with them communal style in their homes to minimize their impact on the environment. If Al Gore, Madonna, Barbra Streissand and the rest of the people with mammoth global footprints plus all the people who attended those save the world concerts a while back would just stay home, the rest of us can get on with our reasonable lives without their BS. And the world will be perfectly fine. Carbon offsetting is the biggest scam ever concocted. It would be like Hugh Hefner selling foregiveness for audltery. Send him $10 and then have sex with the man or woman or barnyard animal of your choice, regardless of marital status. He will then be sure to only sleep with one of his three girlfriends or some other hot babe, and you will be forgiven your sins.

By Wes Schellenbaum, Thursday, August 21, 2008
More nonsense

If people were obliged to offset their carbon (which would be a sensible thing for the Govt. to enact), the public would soon know all about it and would probably whinge about it too.

By Gary Phillips, Thursday, August 21, 2008