Save and Conserve

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about personal carbon footprints. In my own case, my footprint is probably below average ... I rarely fly, I commute 12 miles one way in a Honda Accord, and I make an effort to use public transportation when possible. I also like to cycle and think walkable communities make great sense for both reduction of energy consumption and improvement of personal health.

When that news came out about Gore's electric bill a few months back, I was pretty pissed. I understand that an international figurehead like Al Gore is going to burn through a lot of fossil fuel as he globe trots - he is spreading the global warming message so that seems like an acceptable trade. But, at the same time, it doesn't sound like he's made a personal commitment to lowering his carbon footprint outside of his public, professional life. That rubs me the wrong way.

I recently booked honeymoon tickets for Hawaii and I actually felt a twinge of guilt because I thought about the huge amount of jet fuel those flights would consume (New York to Phoenix to Hawaii). On the other hand, my guilt strikes me as pretty unwarranted. In the grand scheme of things, my honeymoon trip isn't going to make an ounce of difference. Maybe. Or maybe not? Hard to know.

Well, after reading this Forbes article about ChIndias ever-increasing appetite for coal-fed power plants, I think I have a better sense for the answer.

Here's a few lines from that report, if you don't feel like clicking through ...

Coal consumption in China and India is forecast to increase by 3% a year between 2006 and 2030, compared with an increase of 0.6% a year for the developed countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to S&P analysts.

India doesn’t believe it has contributed to excessive greenhouse gases and wants developed countries to explicitly address the issue before it does anything, the report says.

Much of its expected growth will come from the Indian government's plans to add about 100,000 megawatts to the country's existing installed capacity of about 140,000 MW to meet its goal of "power for all" by 2012. "To meet this target, the government has proposed at least seven coal-fired ‘ultra-mega power’ projects,” S&P said.

Yeah ... I don't think I really need to worry. Maybe Gore was onto something.