http://www.triplepundit.com/2008/08/walmart-rebukes-ftc-attempt-to-standardize-carbon-offsets/ Business, Better. Since 2005 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:05:57 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 http://www.triplepundit.com/2008/08/walmart-rebukes-ftc-attempt-to-standardize-carbon-offsets/comment-page-1/#comment-11272 Jen Boynton Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:46:42 +0000 http://www.triplepundit.com/wordpress/2008/08/walmart-rebukes-ftc-attempt-to-standardize-carbon-offsets/#comment-11272 Hey Eoin, Thanks for commenting! I saw that in your piece. The reason I didn't mention it over here is that it seems to me to be more of Carbonfund's rationale for Walmart's actions than a real explanation. If Walmart was *really* concerned about the FTC having this role, I think they would have used stronger language to advocate for another agency's involvement. I don't really understand the downside to FTC involvement. They monitor the environmental claims of lots of products that are also regulated by other agencies. If the FTC made some minimal standards of what constitutes a Carbon Offset by that name, for consumer protection purposes, and then the EPA regulated the project selection and 3rd party verification side, we would only end up with stronger, higher quality offsets. Hey Eoin,
Thanks for commenting! I saw that in your piece. The reason I didn’t mention it over here is that it seems to me to be more of Carbonfund’s rationale for Walmart’s actions than a real explanation. If Walmart was *really* concerned about the FTC having this role, I think they would have used stronger language to advocate for another agency’s involvement.
I don’t really understand the downside to FTC involvement. They monitor the environmental claims of lots of products that are also regulated by other agencies. If the FTC made some minimal standards of what constitutes a Carbon Offset by that name, for consumer protection purposes, and then the EPA regulated the project selection and 3rd party verification side, we would only end up with stronger, higher quality offsets.

]]> http://www.triplepundit.com/2008/08/walmart-rebukes-ftc-attempt-to-standardize-carbon-offsets/comment-page-1/#comment-11271 Eoin Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:03:46 +0000 http://www.triplepundit.com/wordpress/2008/08/walmart-rebukes-ftc-attempt-to-standardize-carbon-offsets/#comment-11271 Thanks for linking to my post in Monitor's Bright Green Blog. I think another piece of this puzzle worth considering is what a spokesperson from Carbonfund told me in an email that I posted in an update to my blog entry. Carbonfund says that the FTC is the wrong agency for the job. The EPA should be the ones setting these guidelines, they say. Wal-Mart hinted at the same thing with their comment about all the "highly technical experts with vast environmental expertise" out there who they think should be involved in setting these guidelines. Thanks for linking to my post in Monitor’s Bright Green Blog. I think another piece of this puzzle worth considering is what a spokesperson from Carbonfund told me in an email that I posted in an update to my blog entry.
Carbonfund says that the FTC is the wrong agency for the job. The EPA should be the ones setting these guidelines, they say. Wal-Mart hinted at the same thing with their comment about all the “highly technical experts with vast environmental expertise” out there who they think should be involved in setting these guidelines.

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