[greenyes] No, This Is Not a Joke

["Peter Anderson" <anderson@no.address>]

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WASHINGTON -- The United States may have withdrawn from the Kyoto Protocol, 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.
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_________________________
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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