Calculate Your Climate Impacts
Global climate change may well be the single most important environmental problem your generation will face. Each of us plays a role in creating this problem in the ways we live, the things we buy, and, most importantly, the way we use energy. You can calculate how much CO2 and other greenhouse gases your activities create. Go to wwww.b-e-f.org/GreenTags/calculator_intro.cfm, a site maintained by the Bonneville Environmental Fund, that educates individuals about their climate impacts. Follow the steps in their carbon calculator to see how you compare. If you don't know specifics for your consumption patterns, use average figures supplied on each page.
1. How much greenhouse gas did your activities account for last year?
2. How do your activities compare to U.S. averages?
3. Why is there so much emphasis on energy use in this calculator? (Hint: this question has both a scientific and an economic answer.)
4. What does it mean to be climate neutral?
5. What are "green tags" or "green power" options?
6. How much would you be willing to pay to avoid a climate catastrophe?
