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Sir,
Regarding "EU unveils plans to beef up carbon trading scheme":
What on Earth is "carbon trading"? Or, for that matter, "carbon capture and storage" or even "carbon leakage"? Are we trading in soot (now that is real 'pollution'), graphite or even diamonds? Those are what carbon is. Maybe throwing a graphite pencil up into the air should be considered part of the Earth's 'carbon budget'.
Of course, what is really being addressed is "carbon dioxide trading", "carbon dioxide capture and storage", etc.
This is not merely an academic point but is part of the way in which language has been distorted to bolster concerns about human-caused climate change. Ignoring the oxygen atoms and calling CO2 merely 'carbon' makes about as much sense as ignoring the oxygen in water (H2O) and calling it 'hydrogen'. That might be an effective PR tool for anti-hydro power campaigners but most of the public would regard such a communications trick as ridiculous. The 'CO2 is carbon' mistake is no less farcical.
Such deceptions do serve one purpose however. For those who want to frighten the public into CO2 cuts, calling the gas "carbon" encourages people to think of the gas as 'pollution' or something 'dirty', like graphite or soot. Calling CO2 by its proper name would help people remember that, regardless of whether its rise is causing climate problems (a point of strong debate in the climate science community), it is really an invisible gas essential to plant photosynthesis and thus to all life.
Tom Harris
Executive Director
Natural Resources Stewardship Project (NRSP
)
Ottawa, ON
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