Whether we like it or
not, we all contribute to environmental damage. The following article from The
New York Times describes what some companies do to feel less guilty. -
Harry Plinen, "Offsetting Environmental Damage by Planes", The New
York Times, 18 February 2003.
Do you feel guilty about global warming every time you get behind the wheel
of your car? If you are a frequent flier, start feeling more guilty.
On a round trip from New York to London, according 5 to the calculations
of the Edinburgh Center for Carbon Management in Scotland, a Boeing 747 spews
out about 440 tons of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. That is about
the same amount that 80 S.U.V.'s emit in a full year of hard driving.
But short of swimming to London or jogging to Los Angeles, what is the
concerned business traveler to do? The airline industry, busy trying to avoid
bankruptcy, is not offering tips on how to limit the environmental damage. And
chances are your travel agent has not given the matter much thought.
Jonathan Shopley, Future Forests' chief executive, says his appeals to
the airline industry have fallen on deaf ears. "They act towards this
environmental problem like the chemical industry 20 years ago: If we ignore it,
maybe it will go away," he said. "But it won't."
The American software company Interface pays American Forests to plant a
tree every 1,500 passenger miles its employees fly. "It's part of our
program to minimize our impact on the environment," said Ray C. Anderson,
Interface's chairman. "The cost is minimal, and we create enormous good
will."
spew out (v.): make something flow out in
large quantities - carbon dioxide (n.): the gas produced when animals
breathe out, when carbon is burned in air, or when animal or vegetable
substances decay - S.U.V.: sport-utility vehicle, a type of vehicle that
is bigger than a car and is made for travelling over rough ground - emit
(v.): send out - concerned (adj.): worried or involved - fall on deaf
ears: those talked to do not listen - impact (n.): effect or
influence - chairman (n.): someone, especially a man, who is in charge
of a meeting or directs the work of a committee or an organization; today the
expression "chairperson" is frequently used - create good will:
to show that you care by a gesture
The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management in Scotland: an
organization which controls pollution to the environment due to carbon dioxide
emissions - American Forests: a non-profit organization which attempts
to preserve forests in the USA