Sign up for ClimateSmart

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I just signed up the Toy House for PG&E's project ClimateSmart. This is a voluntary program wherein PG&E customers can pay a minuscule fee to offset their household greenhouse gas emissions. The funds collected will pay for forest restoration and other greenhouse gas reduction programs.

The cost for a given household is based on the actual gas and electricity consumption for a given month. For an average PG&E residential customer it amounts to a mere $4.37 per month, less than 15¢ per day. PG&E provides a page which allows you to estimate your charge for a given month.

Our little house is comparatively frugal with utilities. For November our cost would be just $2.30, about 8¢ per day.

The funds will go entirely to greenhouse gas emissions programs, and their use will be certified by independent auditors.

If you are a PG&E customer, I encourage you to sign up. It costs pennies a day, and will help do some good. Even if you're a global warming skeptic, consider that the money will help the environment in other ways as well, such as improved forests and wildlife habitat, and in alternative energy development to make us less dependent on fossil fuels that are going to run out someday anyway. And face it, even if global warming really is just a scare tactic of the lunatic left, is it wise to assume that pouring unnatural amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is entirely without consequence?

Just be aware that signing up is not a substitute for energy conservation. It's better to not make greenhouse gasses in the first place than to clean them up after the fact. In that respect it's the same as any other housecleaning project. So while you're at it, replace your most frequently used light bulbs with compact fluorescents, and find other ways to save energy. I like to make a game of it, to see how much energy (and how much money) I can save.

Here again is the link: PG&E ClimateSmart

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