Another thing that will soon be added to the calculator is a way to account for any carbon offsets -- those investments many people are making in clean energy that can be counted as carbon credits. "This is part of an ongoing project that's really going to heat up this summer," Jones said. The California Air Resources Board has already announced it has used the Cool Climate Calculator to develop a Cool California Calculator that better reflects parts of that state. Besides just helping people see where they stand, another goal of the calculator is to help people see how everything they spend money on can affect carbon emissions, Jones told Discovery News. The calculator can help people avoid the common trap, for instance, of cutting emissions in one part of their lives while accidentally raising it in others, he said. For instance, said Jones, a family might cut their electricity consumption with lower-wattage lights and energy-efficient appliances, but then spend the money they saved on more energy-intensive foods, like meats and foods shipped from distant places. "Reducing consumption is not necessarily the answer," said Jones. "We need to think of substitution." In other words, eat more vegetables than meat, buy local foods and heat with natural gas instead of electricity or oil. Some people also see the calculator as part of the missing clean-energy link between governments and their citizens. "The dirty little secret (among cities) is that a lot of these goals can't be met," said Paul Lussier, a policy and media consultant who is working on connecting cities to citizens. The only way cities can do it is if they are doing it with citizens who are keeping track of their own carbon emissions, he said. Related Links: Tracy Staedter's blog: What the Tech? |
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