[Terrapreta] A reward system for eliminating and/oroffsettingfossil carbon usage

[Ron Larson]

Greg (cc Terra preta list)

    I see from a different message today that you are behind on e-mail messages.  I sent one to you on Saturday morning that bounced, but you should have received it via the terrapreta list.  I am guessing 

    In it I asked that you review several papers by Jim Hansen, in my attempt to convert you to being a climate change believer.  Your message below suggests I wasn't successful.  This is a second attempt.  If you find something wrong with Hansen's logic, I'd love to hear it (and believe I speak for a few others on the list as well).  To many of us, doing something urgently is not being helped by terra preta list members downplaying the possibility of man being the main cause of global warming.  I hope you can report back your reaction to the three unpublished papers by Hansen.  Let me know if I should re-send the citations.  They are the best, most concise, most compelling arguments that I know of.

    I am not in this message disagreeing with what you say below (there is some truth in there on what people, especially those on this list,  have to do).   I just have to try again when I see words like "flim flam", "scam", and "Al Gore types"

Ron  (owner of an almost off-grid home [7 kW, battery backup, and lots of solar thermal] and an Insight)

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Greg and April 
  To: Terra Preta 
  Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2008 11:50 PM
  Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] A reward system for eliminating and/oroffsettingfossil carbon usage


  Until people are willing to buy carbon credits for the cost of actually sequestering carbon - then actually sequester the carbon - it isn't going to happen, and it will be next to useless to try.

  As things stand, they are going to want to deduct the cost of sequester the carbon from their taxes, while actually only paying what it would cost to buy a carbon credit ( as it currently stands ), and as such it isn't going to happen, any time soon.


  The theory of buying carbon credits is just political flim flam that feels good but does nothing.


  As for the Kyoto Protocols, it's just a rob Peter to pay Paul scam.    All nations ( rich and poor ) have to work on the problem at the same time - otherwise carbon credits just transfers the carbon debt ( and favors the economies of undeveloped nations ) and really doesn't accomplish anything.    

  The undeveloped nations say they should have their day in the sun, but, where is the logic of building up a large economy based of the short term cheap energy of petroleum when they know that they are going to spend extra, in order to convert it to renewable?    They should be thankful for having the chance to build their growing economy's on renewable in the first place, and learn from the mistakes of the "developed" nations, and not go through the renewable teething pains that the US is.


  I've said it a million times, until people are actually willing to pay what it cost, to sequester carbon, it's not going to be profitable to do so.    Until it's profitable to sequester carbon, the only people who are going to do so, are those that have some moral conviction to do so, otherwise, you end up with a lot of Al Gore types, that do a lot of talking, but when it comes down to walking the walk, they are unwilling to leave their air conditioned homes, because it might be a little warm outside. 


  Greg H.


      Deleting message from Sean Barry to save space.
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