Kill A Camel For A Carbon Credit
From the brilliant battlers of global warming comes the latest nugget of wisdom to save the planet by – killing camels? This from TIME:
As Australia struggles to get out from under its status as the world’s largest carbon emitter per capita, at least one company has sensed an opportunity. Under the nation’s Carbon Farming Initiative, a plan to help combat emissions that was submitted to parliament yesterday, Adelaide-based company Northwest Carbon has suggested the nation solve its camel crisis by putting a price on the animals’ heads — on the carbon market. Under the scheme, companies and individuals would receive carbon credits for shooting camels by helicopter or truck, or herding them and taking them to slaughterhouses. The camels could be processed for pet food or human consumption, and the carbon credits earned could be sold to domestic or foreign polluting companies. “We’re a nation of innovators and we find innovative solutions to our challenges,” Northwest Carbon’s Tim Moore told the Australian. “This is just a classic example.”
The net emissions saved from killing Australia’s feral camels is not insignificant — by some estimates, camel populations could be releasing the equivalent of 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year by 2020. But it’s still a cosmetic measure compared to tackling the power companies, mines, and smelters that top the list of the nations greenhouse gas emissions, or even reducing other commercial ruminant herds like cows and sheep, which are far larger methane emitters than camels simply because of their sheer numbers.
Have we actually reached the point where we’re killing off Gaia’s creatures to save Mother Earth from herself? I can only imagine what kind of future carbon-credit bounty would be put on the head of a family bold enough to drive a SUV. Better yet, I don’t think I want to imagine that one.
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