I see that the NAEE update recently drew attention to a Spectator podcast on the ethics and politics of carbon off-setting. It had a contribution from Shell which clearly paid for the whole thing.
Dear me; the Spectator and Shell! I wonder how many simply refused to listen in because of where it was and who was contributing. The Shell / Spectator combo may have been too much for many to cope with even though Tony Jupiter was on there as well, talking what I thought was informed good sense. I found the podcast useful; it deals with important issues in what I thought was a balanced way. Criteria enough, you'd have thought ...
As to why I didn't refuse to listen, this was because I'm not sufficient of a hypocrite to rail against fossil fuel companies whilst still using their products – though clearly many are. Whilst I can see that there might be a difference in principle between holding shares in a company (or a sector such as petrochemicals) and merely buying their products and services, in practice I can see little difference at all; in both cases you are supporting them financially – in one case as an investment, in the other as exchange for something you value more than your money.
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