Follow the Money - The Goracle and Carbon Offsets

Interesting article at Eco Totality about Al Gore's purchasing carbon offsets to compensate for his limousine liberal lifestyle:

Why the Gore Story Matters
As the controversy over global warming doomsayer Al Gore�s voracious energy-eater mansion rolls on, there�s an angle I think merits deeper investigation than it is currently getting. While much of the focus has been on whether or not Gore is an environmental hypocrite, the story has raised the profile of the role of �carbon offsets� in achieving a �greener,� more environmentally friendly world.

In its original story, The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville reported that Gore buys �carbon offsets� to compensate for his home�s use of energy from carbon-based fuels. What is a �carbon offset,� exactly? Essentially, it�s a payment someone makes to an environmentally friendly entity to compensate for personally using non-green energy.

As Wikipedia explains, a carbon offset �is a service that tries to reduce the net carbon emissions of individuals or organizations indirectly, through proxies who reduce their emissions and/or increase their absorption of greenhouse gases.� Wikipedia goes on to explain that �a wide variety of offset actions are available; tree planting is the most common. Renewable energy and energy conservation offsets are also popular, including emissions trading credits.�

So far, so good. So, where does Gore buy his �carbon offsets�? According to The Tennessean newspaper�s report, Gore buys his carbon offsets through Generation Investment Management. a company he co-founded and serves as chairman:

Gore helped found Generation Investment Management, through which he and others pay for offsets. The firm invests the money in solar, wind and other projects that reduce energy consumption around the globe�

The post then points to a link to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission list of their US holdings featuring companies like these:

AFLAC INC
AUTODESK INC
GENERAL ELECTRIC CO
JOHNSON CTLS INC
STAPLES INC
WHOLE FOODS MKT INC

Granted, I am cherrypicking names that I know to not be particularly at the vanguard of green activity (except for Whole Foods and with supermarket profit margins around 5%, I'm surprised at this investment although it's only $4M out of the total US portfolio of $206M.) So basically, the Goricle is drumming up business for his own investment company by pumping up the gobal warming hysteria.