The Liberal Party is leasing a 30-year-old 737 as Stephane Dion's campaign plane.  It is, by far, the dirtiest aircraft used by the major parties.

But apparently any criticism is misguided.  See, the Liberal Party is buying carbon offsets.

Well then, that fixes the problem, doesn't it.

Doesn't it?

As I noted yesterday, my post on the old dirty plane the Liberals are trying to lease has gotten a great deal more exposure than I expected.

That includes some commentary from Liberal bloggers (some who use it as an opportunity to call me names), defending high polluting ways with carbon offsets:

As Scott Tribe points out, the Liberals are purchasing carbon offsets to neutralize the CO2 emissions associated with their campaign travel from CarbonZero, a Canadian company with offices in Toronto and Calgary.

Uh-huh.  Well, as it is, I did know about this, but that's a subject for a second post.  This one, in fact.

Why?

Because so-called carbon offsets often offset very little, so I didn't want to obscure the issue of how much actual carbon dioxide Stephane Dion and the Liberals were going to be generating, compared to the Conservatives and the NDP.

But let's consider Carbonzero.  It is run by Kate Holloway.  Not surprisingly, perhaps, Kate Holloway is an active Liberal, who ran for the Ontario Liberals in Trinity-Spadina in the recent provincial election, having joined the Liberal Party after Stephane Dion became leader:

Her resignation letter [from the Green Party] stated that core values between the two parties were not dissimilar, and that she intended to support Toronto Liberals in the wake of Stephane Dion's election as Liberal Party of Canada Leader.

Nice to keep it in the family, eh?  Kate Holloway did not win the riding for Dalton McGuinty.

So how does sending money to Carbonzero help the environment?  Founder How-Sen "Howie" Chong explains the importance of carbon offset additionality:

When purchasing an offset, experts advise the most important aspect to consider is additionality -- that is, the project wouldn't have happened without the extra funding from the sale of offsets.

"The whole purpose of offsets is to shift people away to a carbon neutral future," said Howie Chong of Toronto-based CarbonZero, launched last September. "If we can convince Canadians and the government to do this on their own, if we can make drastic changes so we're no longer carbon dependent, we'll shut down. It's that simple."

So how much additionality is Carbonzero helping Stephane Dion achieve?  Here's a comprehensive list of emission-reduction projects supported by Carbonzero:

• Cowley Wind Farm

*crickets chirping*

That's it?  Just one windfarm?  Man, it'll have to spinning like gangbusters to offset the carbon dioxide emissions from every single Carbonzero client, now including Stephane Dion election campaign and its carbon dioxide spewing 737.

I've always wondered how they calculate the reduction created by wind farms.  What sort of plant is the wind farm assumed to be replacing?  A zero-emission nuclear power plant, or a 1950s era Chinese coal-fired nightmare?

Anyway, building a wind farm is a good thing, right?

Well, actually, the Cowley Ridge North Wind Farm has been in operation since it was completed in 2001.

How does dumping money into an operating wind farm help with additionality?

And why has Carbonzero been unable to add any new projects in the last seven years?

Carbonzero can answer some of these questions.  It goes to the heart of carbon offset accountability:

"We need to be audited," acknowledges Howie Chong, who runs CarbonZero, a Toronto-based offset organization that set up shop in mid-2006. He promises those financial controls will be in place by the end of 2007. "The trust issue is absolutely important to us because consumers expect us to do the job properly."

CarbonZero sends most of its funds to the Cowley wind power project being developed by Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. in Alberta. It also plans to help with a project to replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents in low-income homes in Ontario. But details of both are sketchy on its website, and Mr. Chong acknowledges that his firm absorbs as much as 25 per cent of the money it receives to pay expenses and generate a profit.

Light bulbs?  That's it?  And they haven't even started that yet?

And for this they keep 25% of money?

Geez, I'm in the wrong business. 

So what does the money going to Cowley Ridge actually do?  The wind farm was finished seven years ago.  Perhaps Cowley Ridge is expanding.  Not as far as I can tell.  In 2001, there was some extra work done, but that's all I can find online, and that's consistent with the wind farm being marked as completed in 2001:

The Cowley Ridge wind far, located along a 2.5 kilometer ridge near Pincher Creek, started in 1993 and was the area's first utility scale installation, comprising 52 @ 375 kW wind turbines with an installed power of 19.5 megawatts. The Cowley Ridge plant was originally installed by San Francisco-based Kenetech and Wind Power Inc. (WPI) of Pincher Creek, but then changed ownership for a short period before being purchased in 1999 by Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. (CHD). The Calgary-based company concentrates on low-impact power generation such as hydroelectric, run-of-river and natural gas-fueled plants. In 1998 it partnered with EPCOR Power Development Corporation in the development of the 12.75 MW Taylor Hydro-electric Plant not far from Pincher Creek, near Lethbridge. Cowley Ridge was CHD's first wind energy property.

John Keating, CEO of Canadian Hydro Developers said, "Until Le Nordais wind farm came on stream last year, Cowley Ridge was Canada's largest. In September of last year we commissioned an additional five 375 kW turbines so, at nearly 21 megawatts, Cowley Ridge is still the largest in Western Canada."

So after Carbonzero takes its 25% cut, where is the additionality?

Is the money just going to pay the operating costs of the Cowley Ridge Wind Farm?  But then isn't that what selling the electricity it produces is supposed to do?

If they aren't generating enough electricity to be profitable, then they can't be offsetting all that much.

If they are generating enough electricity to be profitable, then what is the money from Carbonzero doing to achieve additionality?

But then none of that really matters.  All that matters is that the Liberal Party is spending what little money it has to appear to be environmentally friendly.

I bet Liberal Party donors are pleased with how the money is spent.

Question: How much is this 737 costing the Liberal Party, environmentally speaking?  Carbonzero sells offsets at $22 per tonne.  I'm working on figuring out how much time the plane will be in the air during a campaign.  I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out.

Reality Check:  From the Liberal Party reality check:

Our offsets will be purchased through CarbonZero, a Canadian carbon offsets company that helps consumers and businesses neutralize their emissions through high quality offset projects located primarily in Canada.

High quality offset projects?  Located primarily in Canada?  Make it sound like a job-creation scheme that is a win for everyone.

As far as I can see, it's exactly one project, using decade-old technology, on one hill in Alberta.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 07:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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