COMMON TYPES OF ENVIRONMENTAL FRAUD
UNREGULATED CARBON CREDITS AND OFFSETS
There are many old scams, and more sophisticated, emerging scams involving carbon credits lucrative carbon “offsets”. Currently there are no standardized way to trade these credits or offsets, no way to verify exactly what is the offsetting activity behind them. This 2023 video, Bloomberg’s Kal Penn explains how carbon credits and offsets are sold as essentially a financial tool that promises to lower greenhouse gasses, speed up the green transition and rejuvenate our forests. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. In this Wild West atmosphere, 2021 the market for carbon credits or “Retirements” totaled $850 million. It is now enormous at $1.4billion. The even broader market, where offsets are traded and sold, exceeds $1 trillion.
THE DIRTY TRUTH ABOUT WIND TURBINES
If you are able travel across our great nation, in rural areas massive wind farms have popped up everywhere. The truth is over 15 thousand wind turbine projects remain unconnected, waiting for permission to attach to the grid. Many of these projects are located in rural areas, miles and miles from the local power company where they need to connect. The cost to connect to local companies is not cheap and can be between $100-200 million to accommodate and distribute the energy produced. Wind projects take time for approval and can take up to 4 years. Sadly, developers are learning smaller power companies are already at capacity, requiring billions of dollars to upgrade, much of that expected from investors’ pockets.
HAVE YOU HEARD OF GREENWASHING?
Greenwashing is a tactic that a company, product, or organization will use to present itself as environmentally friendly, but in reality that is not necessarily so. Instead of making meaningful changes such as reducing emissions or using sustainable materials, they rely on marketing, vague claims, or misleading labels to appear “green.” Consumers who want to make responsible choices may be confused, undermining trust in genuine sustainability efforts. True progress requires transparency, accountability, and actions that back up the words.