No, not really.  There may be some discussion about how fast it’s happening or where to lay blame – but except for a few hold-outs, most scientists today agree that it is happening and that it must be slowed down.  And beyond the scientific evidence, there is the anecdotal evidence that we all see:  Katrina, the tsunami – seven recorded natural disasters each year vs. only two a generation ago!
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But aren’t cars a very small piece of the problem?

Cars – along with anything else that uses non-renewable energy sources and emits pollutants into the atmosphere – are a huge piece of the problem.  Each year we Americans buy almost 17 million new cars – so it’s not as if there were only two or three cars out there spewing five times their own weight in greenhouse gases.  That’s right, the average car emits 10,000 lbs. (or five tons) of pollutants each year!
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What is a greenhouse gas anyway?

Greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, helping the earth to retain enough of the sun’s warmth to sustain life.  But as we’ve come to use the term negatively, we’re referring to the fact that human activity from cutting forests to driving cars has increased the concentration of these gasses to such a level that an imbalance has occurred and too many of the sun’s harmful rays are passing through the atmosphere raising global temperatures.
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Is that what global warming is all about?

Exactly! Greenhouse gases which are elevated and/or altered by human activity are warming the earth at an alarming rate.  As the earth warms, negative impacts from melting polar ice caps to extended seasons of tropical storms create challenges our planet just cannot handle – challenges which we must face and changes which we must make.
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What’s a carbon credit and how does it figure into all of this?

Let’s back up for a minute . . . there are several different man-made greenhouse gases – but the one which poses the most imminent danger is the one man makes most – simply by living an ordinary American life:  carbon dioxide.  Humans and other animals inhale oxygen and exhale CO2 – so just being alive is the first way that we add to greenhouse gases.  But the more industrialized and productive a nation becomes, the more it tends to pollute along the way.  Just as humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out CO2, plants do the opposite, consuming CO2 and expelling oxygen, cleaning our air.  With the build-up of civilization, we replace our forests with cities and fill our cities with factories, houses, roads, and cars – all of which spew forth more CO2 than our environment can handle – and the yellow smog of our cities becomes commonplace while we go on about our business.  That’s an ugly fact – but it’s why carbon credits have come into existence.
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So here’s the answer.  Instead of physically reducing CO2 emissions where we cannot do so – after all, we are not going to tear down cities or stop driving our cars – we use carbon credits as a tool for balancing the environment.  This tool – the carbon credit – is a financial instrument (because money is a great incentive) that allows the polluting activity which cannot be easily stopped to offset its levels of emissions by investing in a project or activity (such as reforestation) which reduces CO2 pollution – rendering your emissions neutral.  It’s a balancing act, true, but it’s the best way we have of neutralizing current emissions levels and returning to pre-1990 levels, even as the world’s economies grow.

And that’s why the Kyoto Accord devised the idea of carbon credits as a fundamental tool in the effort to mitigate global warming. Because America is a non-signatory nation, we are not subject to international fines or limits set by others.  Our participation in balancing emissions through carbon credits is strictly voluntary and based on our own good sense, good will, and commitment to a cleaner earth.
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You called carbon credits a “financial instrument” – what does that mean?

Carbon credits can be traded, just like shares of stock or commodities, on the open market.  Several major international exchanges, including the Nordic Power Exchange, European Climate Exchange, and Chicago Climate Exchange, have already been created for the express purpose of buying and selling carbon credits.  This is big financial business.
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At the Carbon Expo held in Cologne, Germany on March 11-13, 2005, hundreds of buyers for billions of carbon credits were in attendance.  A U.N. official estimates that $3 billion worth of carbon credits were traded during the three day conference. 

Spain alone needs 100 million tons of carbon credits.  Canada needs 300 million tons.  And in England, a public company listed on AIM just raised $200 million... strictly to purchase carbon credits.

Trading carbon credits represents a huge and rapidly growing marketplace.  In the first 6 months of active trading for 2005, the CO2 market in Europe exceeded 80 million tons of “CO2 equivalent.”  Experts predict annual sales of carbon credits will reach nearly $100 billion by 2010, with carbon credits trading between $50 and $70 per ton.
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What is the A.C.E.S. role in this new business world?

Everything described above refers to national and giant entities like multi-national corporations.  They are the ones on whom the Kyoto Accord has direct impact – but we are the ones whose air is being destroyed.  So A.C.E.S. was established to allow folks like us to participate in the carbon credits market so we can offset our personal emissions.  As we said, we cannot stop all emissions – we love our fast cars and our splendid skylines – but like corporations we can, through A.C.E.S., invest in projects that reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere elsewhere and help restore the balance.
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Will the little bit I do make any difference?

Your “little bit” isn’t so little.  Remember the average car puts five tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.  A.C.E.S. is a painless way to do quite a lot, to make a big difference.  And the A.C.E.S. Newsletter will tell you more that you can do.
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Painless is good!  Where can I learn more?

 In addition to the A.C.E.S. program, you can learn a lot by:

(1)     Googling “carbon credits” and “greenhouse gases”;
(2)     Visiting websites of environmentally responsible companies such as BP
(3)     Logging on to the EPA website;
(4)     Looking at the site of the Chicago Climate Exchange
(5)     Finding out more about your own emissions at www.carboncounter.org
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