Re: [greenyes] Sticker Shock

[Jenny Gitlitz <jenny.gitlitz@no.address>]

How is this any different from other GHG market trading mechanisms? That it
targets the wallets of individual drivers instead of corporate power plant
coffers?  

Yes, it sounds ridiculous for Hummer owners to buy these stickers to appease
their guzzling guilt, but for many of us who are stuck driving 10-year old
cars because we can't afford the $22,000 sticker price of a Toyota
Prius--much as we'd like to buy one--this low-cost sticker program might be
one small way for us to encourage a few small-scale alternative energy
projects. 

The question is, does the bumper sticker scheme somehow detract from
national efforts to raise CAFÉ standards or implement other broad
conservation policies?

--Jenny

Jennifer Gitlitz
Research Director, Container Recycling Institute

Home Office:
2 Pomeroy Ave.
Dalton, MA 01226
Tel. (413) 684-4746
Mobile: (413) 822-0115
Fax: (413) 403-0233
Email: jgitlitz@no.address

Please note the new address for CRI¹s main office:
Container Recycling Institute
1601 North Kent St., Suite 803
Arlington, VA 22209-2105
Tel. (703) 276-9800
Fax: (703) 276-9587
www.container-recycling.org
www.bottlebill.org


On 4/12/05 1:34 PM, Peter Anderson at anderson@no.address wrote:

> GLOBE AND MAIL
> 
> Honk If You Love Your SUV
> 
> Pricey bumper stickers give the owners of gas-guzzlers licence to drive,
> while still being friendly to the environment
> By WILLIAM LIN
> Saturday, April 9, 2005 Page A15
> 
> 
> WASHINGTON -- The United States may have withdrawn from the Kyoto Protocol,
> but a Pennsylvania company says Americans can still fight carbon dioxide
> emissions without leaving home -- by paying as much as $80 for a bumper
> sticker.
> Benven LLC, run by a team of University of Pennsylvania graduate students,
> boasts that its bumper stickers take the equivalent of 350 cars off the road
> for a year. Its product, the TerraPass, allows drivers to counteract their
> gas-guzzling cars' emissions by paying for clean-energy projects. In
> exchange, vehicle owners get a clean conscience and a one-year pass for
> their bumper that identifies the vehicle as pollution-free.
> "If you think of the rest of Americans, they want to be nice to the
> environment. But they want a vehicle to get around in," said Tom Arnold, the
> company's chief operating officer. "With TerraPass, you can keep driving the
> car and still be responsible."
> The passes sell for $30 to $80, depending on how much gas the vehicle uses.
> For instance, it would take $80 to offset a Hummer's annual emissions, Mr.
> Arnold said.
> TerraPass pools the sales and funds clean-energy projects, such as windmills
> in California and cow-manure digesters to control methane emissions. The
> Philadelphia-based company said that to date, it has "erased" 1.8 million
> kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions.
> TerraPass also buys credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange, a market for
> trading greenhouse-gas-emissions credits. TerraPass buys and retires them,
> helping to cover the costs of energy projects.
> About 450,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide credits have been purchased so
> far -- nearly $1,200 worth, the company said. Mr. Arnold said the company
> has spent more than $7,000 on emission-reduction projects in total.
> "...
> "...
> "...
> "...
> 
> 
> _________________________
> Peter Anderson, President
> RECYCLEWORLDS CONSULTING
> 4513 Vernon Blvd. Suite 15
> Madison, WI 53705-4964
> Ph: (608) 231-1100
> Fax: (608) 233-0011
> Cell: (608) 698-1314
> eMail: anderson@no.address
> web: www.recycleworlds.net
> 
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