Is carbon offsetting worthwhile? First up, watch An Inconvenient Truth....
Climate Change is happening due to human actions - and that includes Skeleton!! The debate on the value of Carbon Offsetting is whether you actually contribute to something that wouldn't happen without your help, and whether your contribution actually 'cancels out' the pollution your actions created. I've decided that making a financial contribution to a 'genuine' CO2 offsetting programme will have more environmental benefit than if I did nothing - although admittedly not as much as not flying at all! The competition season has us travelling a lot (9 seperate locations around the world in 2006/7). Using www.climatecare.org my flights were calculated to have emitted 5.97 tonnes of CO2 - equivalent to the annual emissions of an average UK house (although at altitude this has a worse effect on global warming!) In the UK I use the train and cycle a lot, my business is also orientated around improving the energy efficiency of the UK housing stock - it is an issue I'm very aware of. I believe success in Skeleton will give me a platform from which to have a positive influence on these issues, until then I'll continue to look for more inovative ways to reduce my own personal carbon footprint.
