How much carbon does the fleet of vehicles over at KickingTires spew? For starters, about 26 tons. That's at least what the Cars.com team has decided is the right amount of Terrapass carbon offsets to buy for the fleet, and senior editor Dave Thomas said that this initial purchase will be reviewed as the cars' emissions are more accurately rated in the coming months. He told AutoblogGreen that he expects he'll need to buy more to round out the year, but for now, at least, when Cars.com reviews a huge SUV, somewhere an angel gets its wings a tree is planted.

In a blog post announcing the passes, they write that this purchase isn't trying to get on anyone's good side (although I've gotta say I approve), but "the main reason for this program is to help the environment for future generations of drivers." Oh, and the challenge to other review outlets to do the same? Clever. We don't exclusively focus on reviews here, but we do our share. Just might have to consider this for our own green selves.

[Source: Kicking Tires]

Earlier this year, TerraPass sold its 100,000th sticker. The momentum to offset a vehicle's carbon emissions continues, and you can now participate in the program even if you're not in your car

uShip is a shipping service, and can help you move a vehicle when you need to get it somewhere but don't have the time or money to move it yourself. uShip also offers more traditional shipping options (think pianos or moving furniture), and it's this side of the company that partnered up with TerraPass. uShip's trucks now sport the TerraPass sticker (if I'm reading things correctly) which makes using the service carbon neutral.

uShip's Adam Greenspan told AutoblogGreen that the TerraPass partnership "is an effort to reduce the environmental impact of shipping. uShip also makes the shipping industry more efficient by filling empty cargo space and back hauls." Nothing that other shippers aren't trying (see here or here), but every time someone makes a greener decision, I'm pretty sure an angel gets its wings.

[Source: Adam G. of uShip]

In Robbinsville, New Jersey, the Professional Fire Fighters Local 3786 has see the light. Used to fighting fires around town, the fire fighters have gone green to help fight global warming. Compact florescent light bulbs and and other energy saving measures were implemented at the firehouse, but the big red firetruck got an upgrade as well. Two of the fire fighters' front line emergency response vehicles, one ambulance and one large fire truck, now sport TerraPass stickers signifying that the carbon emissions from the vehicles will be offset by clean energy investments. The cost of the two stickers were $558, much higher than what it costs for your standard commuter vehicle (usually $60-100 a year). The Local says they are the first public safety entity to join the TerraPass program, although other fire trucks have gone green - like the San Francisco biodiesel engines. One reason for choosing the TerraPass method over, say, testing out some new hybrid firetruck, is that the team's ability to respond to an emergency call is the same as before. As the video says, "We still do everything we always did, we just do it better and more efficiently." Criticize offsets all you want, at least this is a start.

Check out the firefighters' Go Green promotional video after the jump. Thanks to Ed for the tip!

It's a minor change, but over at TerraPass, the carbon-offset-powers-that-be have added a comparison bar to the online emissions calculator. Now, when you input information to figure out how much your indulgence TerraPass CO₂ offset sticker will cost you, you'll also see a yellow bar that compares your annual emissions with the average U.S. car. The blog entry that announces this addition also asks us for our input on the change. I like it, but would be very interested in seeing a bar that represents the average TerraPass customer's vehicles. Are the users driving eco-cars or not? Your thoughts?

Related:

• CO₂ offset milestone: 100,000 TerraPasses sold
• Survey of TerraPass members finds they're not buying away their guilt

[Source: TerraBlog]

If I can't buy a hybrid or get an EV for 'round town needs, then perhaps a carbon offset sticker is the right move. That's what at least 100,000 people have decided, according to the leading consumer/driver carbon offset vendor, TerraPass. Earlier this month, TerraPass sold its 100,000th TerraPass to one Heraldo Botelho of Palo Alto, CA. It was Botelho's first TerraPass and it offset a flight he took to visit his family. Like so many other TerraPassers, he said he wanted to do something for the environment, and carbon offset was his solution.

[Source: TerraBlog]

Adam Stern, writing over at TerraPass, has been describing his trials and tribulations as he shifts to being a more regular bicycle commuter. The other day, he wrote how his increased pedal miles have reduced his insurance dollars. Obviously, his story isn't completely transferable to everyone, but if you get your car insurance from GEICO and like to bike, have hope.

Stern is driving about 3,000 fewer miles a year (which, I assume, translates to 3,000 more biking miles, which is awesome). This change, plus a reduction in break-in or theft risk from no longer parking by the BART station, has saved him $186. Overall, Stern estimates he's saving almost $1,000 a year by spending more time on his bike. Click over for the details.

[Source: TerraPass]

As always, we need to at least put on our slightly skeptical hat when we get survey results about a group released by that group. Keeping that small caveat in mind, it appears that people who are part of the TerraPass community are not doing so because they want a green ticket excuse for their extravagant lifestyles. Instead, hey, they care.

As TerraPass blogger Adam Stein explains, Terrapass sticker buyers are a green bunch. They are five times more likely than the average American to ride public transportation to their job and 22 times more likely to bike to work. Even though the entire idea behind TerraPass is to offset the CO2 from the vehicle you slap the sticker onto, people in the TerraPass community are seven times more likely than average to drive a hybrid. Also, TerraPassers are 200 times more likely to have solar panel installed on their homes.

It does make a lot of sense that people who pay for a little sticker are also willing to do something more for the environment, so I'm not exactly surprised. Still, all in all, this is a pretty good scorecard for TerraPass and the community they've created.

[Source: TerraBlog]

Car sharing service FlexCar is teaming up with terrapass to provide their members the opportunity to be even more environmentally friendly. FlexCar members can now login on the website and buy a Green Membership for $9.95 that will offset up to 1 ton of CO2 over the next twelve months. Members who buy the green option will also be eligible for other yet-to-be-announced benefits from more partners.

[Source: FlexCar via EcoGeek]

Are you an around towner or a road tripper? Or perhaps you are a cross towner or an out of towner. TerraPass, the carbon offset program, would like to fit you into one of these four new categories for their alternative energy investment sticker program. Actually, the categories aren't new, just the names. With hybrid SUVs on the market, TerraPass' previous categories – Hybrid, Efficient, Standard, and Utility – didn't really match the reality on the road. Plus, a Mini Cooper was considered a Utility under the old system. This says as much about the poor mileage on the Mini as it does about classifying vehicles on types, rather than emissions.

TerraPass blogger Adam blames the imperfect old categories on the fact that the initial TerraPass system was hashed out in only six weeks, and the quickly-thought-up names were supposed to be reworked somewhere down the line. This never happened, until now. Here are the new names and the amount of emissions they offset. Prices for the annual stickers are the same as before.

• TerraPass Around Towner: 6,000 lbs CO2, $29.95 (ex-Hybrid)
  
• TerraPass Cross Towner: 8,000 lbs CO2, $39.95 (ex-Efficient)
  
• TerraPass Out of Towner: 12,000 lbs CO2, $49.95 (ex-Standard)
  
• TerraPass Road Tripper: 20,000 lbs CO2, $79.95 (ex-Utility)
  

[Source: TerraPass]

Just in time for the Labor Day Weekend, two on-line travel agencies, Travelocity and Expedia, have recently launched carbon offset programs for their travelers.

Expedia teamed up with the carbon offset experts at Terrapass. The program allows a traveler to pay his/her offset fee anytime before checking out. The money goes to a host of domestic clean energy projects such as wind farms and methane capture plants as well as the retirement of carbon offsets on the Chicago Climate Exchange.

Travelocity's program, dubbed GoZero, is limited to travelers who buy vacation packages. Those customers will have the option of sending a tax-deductible donation to The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit organization that plants trees.

Travelocity users who opt for the carbon offset program can expect to pay $10 for an average one-night trip which includes air travel, a hotel room and a rental car for one person. $40 would offset air travel, a 4-night hotel stay and a rental car for 4 people. Expedia's carbon offsets start at $5.99 for a 2,200 mile flight while 13,000 miles would cost you $29.99.

[Source: MSNBC]

Tom from TerraPass' TerraBlog suggested over the weekend that all this political and commercial rushing towards ramped-up ethanol production in the United States needs to be looked at in a little more relaxed way. While there are new ethanol plants announced regularly, the plants all differ in how they are powered and what biomass they use to produce the biofuel. Still, in the end, the rules say all ethanol gets a 51 cents per gallon tax credit and meets the renewable fuel standards of the Energy Policy Act. Tom's suggestion is to offer carbon credits to the plants based on how they produce their ethanol, so that cleaner plants (ones that are powered by natural gas, for example) would be rewarded more than dirtier plants that use coal. Also, whoever gets cellulose ethanol up and running in the marketplace will be richly rewarded for their efforts. Sounds good to me.

[Source: TerraPass]

While they admit that it is a "meaningless-but-entertaining milestone", TerraPass deserves credit for reaching the 100 million pounds of carbon offset marker this week. While people's cars are still driving them around, the TerraPass program has taken "the equivalent of taking almost 15,000 Honda Civics off the road for a year (or, ahem, 7,500 Hummers)". So, hat's off to them.

TerraPass says its goal is to offset 10 billion pounds of carbon, so they've got a ways to go (99 percent, actually). Still, their actions are making driving a theoretically cleaner thing to do, and I wish them well in their quest.

[Source: TerraPass]

Last week we mentioned a slight controversy brewing over at Ford for their funding of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which recently produced a series of ads basically claiming "carbon dioxide is good for you" and attacking the new movie "An Inconvenient Truth." On Friday, TerraPass got an answer from Niel Golightly, Ford's Director of Sustainable Business Strategies. The gist of Golightly's letter is that Ford takes no responsibility for the ads (their funding of CEI took place a while back) and also reaffirms Ford's commitment to remaining competitive in a "carbon-restrained environment".  A "carbon-restrained environment"? That sounds like dirty doublespeak to me, clean money or no.

[Source: TerraPass]

I've got to give TerraPass a lot of credit for this post that looks, initially at the "global warming is good for you" crowd at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and then mentions a possible tie between TerraPass and their main car manufacturer partner, Ford.

Adam's post initially ridicules CEI for its uncritical look at global warming. After poking a bit of fun at CEI for their cheesy ads attacking Al Gore's new documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," he turns the lens on TerraPass itself. It turns out that Ford, which is partnering with TerraPass in its Greener Miles program, donated money to the CEI. How much and when is not readily available, but hopefully this will come out in the future. If TerraPass is keeping such close tabs on themselves and their partners, then their opponents need certainly watch their backs.

[Source: TerraPass]

Voluntary carbon offset programs are a popular idea. Instead of making the more serious commitment to change vehicles – downshifting from a SUV to a compact, a compact to a hybrid or a hybrid to public transportation or bicycle (where reasonable) – someone can just pay money and let others work to clean up their pollution. While one of the more popular programs, TerraPass, claims to be effective, their program really just moves carbon pollution around on paper.

This intro is all just to say that it's a little odd for Tom at TerraPass' blog to be so critical of the way that the Chevy Suburban magically qualifies for a 28 mpg rating under the CAFE standards (it actually gets about 15 mpg). Turns out – and I'm glad TerraBlog dug this up – the Suburban is able to say it gets that many miles per gallon because it is a fuel-flex vehicle, and the possibility of ethanol in the tank ups the mpg on paper.

I think this post may be coming across as too critical of TerraPass and CAFE. Sorry about that. I know that TerraPass is doing a lot more for the environment than having a spiffy website, and I know CAFE standards have increased fuel economy and could potentially save a lot more fuel. Still, these type of paper programs will never replace actual sacrifice and change.

[Source: TerraBlog]

UPDATE: typo fixed in title