Even though this is technically a “state visit” the BBC reports it will be carbon neutral:
The tour is the Queen’s first carbon-offset state visit, where a donation is made to an environmental charity to offset the plane journeys made by the royal party.
I wonder if anyone has thought of having the Shrubbery show a little concern for the planet by either parking Air Force One, or buying carbon offsets when he goes traipsing around the country for no understandable reason.
On-line Opinion Magazine featuring annoyed rumblings from the leading edge of the Baby Boom firmly tied to a reality-based world.
Established: 21 November 2004
The opinions expressed in Comments are those of the individuals making them. Truly absurd comments and opinions are subject to being cruelly mocked, but "flame wars" will take place on someone else's dime.
Your first comment, all comments with extensive links, and random comments that the software decides it doesn't like for no discernible reason will be held for moderation.
[Be aware that for unknown reasons the software rejects comments shorter than 15 characters, so if you want to leave a short comment fill the gap with periods ........]
4 comments
It just seems to me that donating to an environmental charity to offset one’s environment ‘footprint’ reminds me of the Middle Ages practice of purchasing indulgences. As in, I’ll continue doing what I want to do but throw some money towards a group to mitigate any feelings of guilt. Perhaps if I knew this was part of an overall plan for the Queen’s household to practice better environmental caretaking, I’d feel less like they were, um, indulging.
And on another note, the Queen shouldn’t have just given teh Shrub a ‘look’, she should have also slapped him upside the head. Maybe that would have knocked some sense into him.
Prince Charles is behind it and the “charities” are rated for their ability to offset the carbon use, usually by planting trees or taking some other action that removes CO2 from the atmosphere.
Charles has done a lot of environmental good with his estate in Cornwall using sustainable farming and helping his tenants reduce their impact on the planet.
It’s not perfect, but they are at least making the effort and setting an example.
You’re right — Prince Charles has been an advocate of sensible land management for decades and if his passion can influence his mother’s habits, then he’s accomplished a great deal (how many of us can say we’ve actually changed our parents’ habits). He was definitely ahead of the curve on this one, as many of his ideas once derided as outlandish are now considered commonsense. I do applaud their efforts.
The thing is, he bets his income on his ideas which is why his tenants adopt his methods. He isn’t just reading from a book, he is actually implementing the techniques so they can see what works and what doesn’t. He has the records to prove his claims, and the local farmers can see the results.