On carbon, please disclose something useful.
James Murdoch asks that “Carbon disclosure should be mandatory by 2010”, November 17. He is right though we must avoid becoming a now-we-disclosed-it-and-that’s-all-folks society… like in a now-we-provided a credit-rating-and-that’s-it-in-financial-regulations. The most singe important aspect with the disclosure of any information is that it is understandable, for any non-expert, and we also do not need more of the type of information that reveals for instance that, supposedly, hopefully, a quart of bottled water contains 0 calories.
In this respect instead of telling us how many units of carbon something generates it would be better to indicate what % of average daily emission of carbon is produced by a particular product or activity so as to allow us, in our daily life, to get a feel for whether we are making things better or worse. How many miles of average car driving does eating a standard Filet Mignon represent?
Another information that could come in handy, and which by the way does not require anything more than the gentle nod of an editor, is to publish, monthly, the list of the most and least per capita carbon emitters in the world, and on how they are evolving.
In this respect instead of telling us how many units of carbon something generates it would be better to indicate what % of average daily emission of carbon is produced by a particular product or activity so as to allow us, in our daily life, to get a feel for whether we are making things better or worse. How many miles of average car driving does eating a standard Filet Mignon represent?
Another information that could come in handy, and which by the way does not require anything more than the gentle nod of an editor, is to publish, monthly, the list of the most and least per capita carbon emitters in the world, and on how they are evolving.
Posts
