Cancun Carbon Footprint....

Carbon Worrywarts Burn Carbon Posted December 10, 2010 12:00 AM EST
Daily NewsRecord Harrisonburg, VA

I found it both ironic and interesting to see that the DN-R published an Open Forum by one of the two residents who attended the climate conference in Cancun (“Reduce Your Carbon Footprint;” “Couple To Attend Climate Conference In Cancun,” Dec. 2;). The Stricklers will attend part of the two-week conference as nongovernmental observers for the Sierra Club.

In his Open Forum, Charles Strickler also expressed his concerns regarding the use and damaging effects of fossil fuels as well as the reasons for the dire status of our economy.

The carbon calculator I found online estimates the roundtrip flights for Mr. and Mrs. Strickler to Cancun from, say, Charlottesville produced 3,802 lbs. of global warming CO2 gas. And how much better would it have been to spend the money generated by this conference right here in the economy of the United States?


Here is an interesting comment and link in response to the above Letter to the Editor in today's Daily NewsRecord....

Well, the Stricklers did mention R & R, and drinking margaritas, so I hope they had a good time. That really is all that matters. There was an opening prayer to a Mayan goddess. Some say that the 15,000 attendees produced as much carbon as an African nation does in one year. But the price of a ton of carbon on the Chicago Climate Exchange is still zero.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/8166871/Cancun-Climate-Conference-What-is-my-carbon-footprint.html

What about the conference itself? Organisers the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) were unable to supply me with a carbon footprint when I asked. But the last conference in Copenhagen, that had just as many people travelling from all around the world, generated the same amount of carbon produced by an African country in one year, and we can hardly suppose it will much less with all the air-conditioning etc.

Just think about the carbon and energy savings if they held this conference by way of tele-conferencing? Everybody wants to sit home in their pajamas "working" on their computers instead of actually traveling into the workplace to save energy and reduce their carbon footprint. Imagine the savings of both if they quit transporting 15,000+ people to tropical islands for two week bash?

The local activist that were mentioned in the above Letter to the Editor traveled to Cancun as "nongovernmental observers" and supported by the Sierra Club... It is good to be active in causes and I am sure the DNR will have a lovely story about their activism\vaction in Cancun and there will sure to be numerous LTE & Open Forums written by the Stricklers. I wonder if they will mention the debate on the overall "footprint" made by this conference?...

The Sierra Club reported Income of $91,843,757 for the year of 2004 with a end of year net worth of $53,339,819...

Imagine how many of those funny looking CFL lightbulbs the Sierra Club could have purchased and the Stricklers could have handed out and the amount of energy saved\Carbon reduction instead of a trip to Cancun?.....

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