The Aspen Times

The following are excerpts from this piece.  To read the complete original article, please click here: Aspen Institute Enlists NativeEnergy

The Aspen Institute has made big strides in recent years to reduce the carbon footprint of its public forums and other special events once speakers and attendees reach the Meadows campus. But when it comes to the more imposing problem of offsetting carbon emissions produced by travel to and from Aspen, the world-renowned think tank's efforts are just taking flight.

The Institute is no better or worse than a lot of business and organizations starting to craft policies to offset travel-related emissions. The Institute, though, might be held to a higher standard because of its mission — bringing together policymakers, business titans and leading thinkers to ponder the world's problems.

Native Energy has an impressive website that talks about the basic theory of carbon offsets, the projects it invests in and ways for individuals and businesses to calculate the CO2 production they are responsible for through travel, lifestyle and events.

An air traveler can use an application at the website to plug in their point of origin and their destination. The calculator figures the mileage and, from assumptions of the amount of fuel used, comes up with the amount of carbon produced. The emissions amount is doubled to take into account the “overall global warming impact of air travel for all air emissions,” Native Energy's website explained.