The Inconvenient Truth Of Middle Class Carbon Credits

It is an inconvenient truth that I drive an SUV (although a tiny 4-cylinder cutie), use electricity, and eat dead, formerly flatulent fauna.

All of these things contribute to global warming of course. Although my annual use of electrons can't compete with that of the rich and famous, it still bugs me when I feel like we have wasted it or used it for unnecessary things. Unlike the rich and famous, I can't throw money at carbon credit companies with dubious track records and even more dubious plans for carbon sequestration. That's not to say all carbon offset organizations are scams. Still, the concept reeks of eco-dispensations.

I have to throw my money at my kids feeding, housing, and education. Feeding and housing them is a concern of the present, education is a concern for their future and it's their future that I am most concerned about.

It seems obvious to me that we are in a period of warming enhanced by a few centuries of human carbon producing activities. I get that information from sources I trust, not politicians or Hollywood celebrities. In fact, I can barely contain my disgust for folks who live extravagant wasteful lifestyles and then preach to me about "cutting back". Nothing ruins the flavor of your message like that ol' hypocrisy spice.

That applies to me also.

As I mentioned above, I can't throw money at the problem. I CAN do all the eco-friendly things possible ... stuff I would do even if there were no such thing as human accelerated atmospheric warming. Conserving energy, planting trees, recycling, and protecting wildlife habitat comes natural to someone raised on Ranger Rick and National Geographic specials (yes, you babies, I know it's a channel now, but it used to be special).

With no money to throw, I resort to action ... actually doing something, even if it's tiny in the grand scheme of things. I can throw muscle and sweat at the problem, so last week I planted the ten (some pots have two... bean counters) baby trees you see on the back of my carbon belching JEEP. The Instant Ocean bucket is full of rain water that was used to water each seedling.

The black cherry treelings were a gift from my Dad. His backyard cherry tree has produced a carpet of baby trees beneath it and he is potting some of those that he weeds from the mulch. These are fast growing, broadleaved (best for fighting global warming) trees that are wonderful for wildlife habitat. Pruning them also gives me my favorite wood for carving ... but that's in the future.

I drove around my 10 acre wood interspersing them among the many, many oaks, hoping the silly deer would have so much other spring forage to eat that they would miss my little carbon credits.

Back in St. Augustine, Dad is potting up more trees for me. I told him I'd take as many as he could stand to rescue.

In the end, it's all about balancing forces. I suppose there are many ways to do this and while I am harshly critical of some folks and their ways, I know that my own 10 trees are more symbolic than earth changing.

Maybe they're just symbolic of optimism about the future and the ability of humans to overcome great obstacles ... even if they unintentionally created the obstacles.