Whole Travel Blog

Come January 2009, as part of the $700 billion bail-out, those who bike to work will get a morsel of relief for their carbon neutral transportation method. Bicycle commuters will be eligible for a $20/month “tax-free reimbursement from their employers for bicycle-related expenses” which will also then be tax deductible at the end of the year. Called the Transportation Fringe Benefit to Bicycle Commuters, will this program get more commuters out of their cars and onto their bikes?

Find out more about it here.

Google recently announced its efforts to green its data centers, wanting to operate the “world’s most efficient data bases.” However, beyond just efficient data centers, before the end of the year, two of its data centers “will run on 100% recycled water, and by 2010 [Google] expects recycled water to provide 80% of [their] total water consumption.” They even created a website dedicated to “sustainable computing” which outlines its green mission and Google’s commitment to being carbon neutral as a company. Will this mean that Larry and Sergey will be buying carbon offsets for each trip they take aboard the Google jet?

Check out details of Google’s greening efforts here.

There has been a huge amount of media buzz this past week and a half surrounding the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. There have been rumors, scandals, debates and comparison - all typical signs that a presidential race is rapidly approaching. This year, however, much attention has focused on the Democrat’s highly publicized goal of producing “the most environmentally sustainable political convention in modern American history.”  For an environmentalist–skeptical, pessimistic and distrusting–this might seem like just an attempt at securing the votes of a gullible electorate, but a seemingly good-faith effort was made at “greening” most every part of the convention, from energy sources and waste reduction to transportation and community support.

To me, the question that arises from the convention is: How does Barack Obama’s campaign make the same effort as the Democratic National Committee at achieving carbon neutrality and environmental benignity? Needless to say, Barack Obama and John McCain are both logging plenty of miles in their campaign airplanes, traveling from one end of the country to the other rallying members of their respective parties. But from what I’ve been able to find online, there have been only three presidential campaigns ever to make the promise of carbon neutrality: Tom Vilsack, John Edwards and Hillary Clinton after Earth Day. With these three candidates starting the trend, it doesn’t make sense that Obama wouldn’t follow suit. Making a statement like this would raise awareness that the impact of plane flight can be mitigated. Besides, I’m sure Obama would sway more than a few fence-sitters by declaring his campaign to be carbon neutral.

There has been a huge amount of media buzz this past week and a half surrounding the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. There have been rumors, scandals, debates and comparison - all typical signs that a presidential race is rapidly approaching. This year, however, much attention has focused on the Democrat’s highly publicized goal of producing “the most environmentally sustainable political convention in modern American history.”  For an environmentalist–skeptical, pessimistic and distrusting–this might seem like just an attempt at securing the votes of a gullible electorate, but a seemingly good-faith effort was made at “greening” most every part of the convention, from energy sources and waste reduction to transportation and community support.

To me, the question that arises from the convention is: How does Barack Obama’s campaign make the same effort as the Democratic National Committee at achieving carbon neutrality and environmental benignity? Needless to say, Barack Obama and John McCain are both logging plenty of miles in their campaign airplanes, traveling from one end of the country to the other rallying members of their respective parties. But from what I’ve been able to find online, there have been only three presidential campaigns ever to make the promise of carbon neutrality: Tom Vilsack, John Edwards and Hillary Clinton after Earth Day. With these three candidates starting the trend, it doesn’t make sense that Obama wouldn’t follow suit. Making a statement like this would raise awareness that the impact of plane flight can be mitigated. Besides, I’m sure Obama would sway more than a few fence-sitters by declaring his campaign to be carbon neutral.