the Wealthy Canadian

While many may not consider environmentalism and carbon credits to be a personal finance issue, it is.

I have recently read a tale about two houses.  One was a sprawling mansion using 20 times the energy an average home uses.  The second was still a large home by most standards but also very ‘green’ and uses only a quarter of the average energy use.  The big energy consumer was Al Gore’s home and the efficient house is George W Bush’s home in Texas.

I did some research and found that the Tennessee Centre for Policy Research performed a study on Al Gore’s house.  According to the report Al Gore used “more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year.”

However, apparently Gore sleeps well at night because he maintains a “carbon neutral” lifestyle.  This is done by buying carbon offsets or credits from a company that has a net negative carbon impact (the company plants trees or whatever rather than producing greenhouse gases).  So Al Gore is able to be a hypocrite, telling us to live a moderate lifestyle while he lives in luxury, by being wealthy enough to pay for someone else to make up for his excesses.  The details are even more juicy, he owns the company that he buys the credits from.

I apologise, this was not meant to be a partisan post nor am I trying to comment (too much) about Al Gore’s hypocrisy.  In fact, I believe in his message, that is, we need to become less consumptive and more aware of the footprint that we are leaving behind.

My point is that personal finance and saving the Earth can be achieved with a similar strategy; “Spend less than you earn.”
* Instead of the largest house that the bank will finance you for buy a smaller one, you’ll pay less in utilities (and less pollution).
* Instead of commuting in an H2 consider a Camry, you’ll pay less in gas (and less pollution).
* Instead of commuting in a car consider public transit, there are tax credits for your buspass (and less pollution).
* Reduce, reuse, recycle.  Buy less, pay less and it’s less pollution less for the landfill.
* etc

Or, if you want to drive a hummer, live in a mansion, and buy stuff like there is no tomorrow… then start a tree-planting company and swap the carbon credits.