_http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/opinion/16caldeira.html_
(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/opinion/16caldeira.html)
January 16, 2007
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
When Being Green Raises the Heat
CARBON DIOXIDE is heating up the Earth. Ice caps are melting, ocean levels
are rising, hurricanes are intensifying, tropical diseases are spreading and
the threat of droughts, floods and famines looms large. Can planting a tree
help stop all this from happening?
To some, it’s a no-brainer: We add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every
time we use energy from coal, oil or gas; but each tree can remove more than a
ton of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over its lifetime. Based on this
logic, it might seem a good idea to go out and plant a tree to slow global
heating.
And if you don’t have the time, projects have sprung up throughout the world
claiming to help cool the earth, ready to accept your money and plant a tree
in your name. The computer company Dell will now donate $2 from every laptop
sale to planting trees in an effort to offset the carbon dioxide emissions
that result from powering their computers. For a 2 percent to 4 percent
surcharge on bills, Pacific Gas and Electric will offer to offset its customers’
carbon emissions by helping to preserve California’s carbon-storing forests...
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