James5

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And guess who wins? American’s can now buy wind power gift cards. Cards that look good on your fridge, give off an eco-friendly wind power aura but actually don’t do much practical stuff to advance sustainable power may be a bit misleading in terms of what they actually do.

“The card does not reduce or impact consumers utility bills, nor does it deliver wind power to consumers. Rather, it helps U.S. wind-power producers market their product.”

So basically, according to Reuters, it looks like a way for you to donate money to a private company to either (1) trade ‘green’ electricity and make a profit or (2) take a commission and then give to a wind powered electricity company to spend on marketing. While it might encourage green electricity use, these cards may prove a bit confusing for consumers. They aren’t actually investing the money in developing renewable energy, it’s not like GreenFleet where they plant trees or buy carbon credits. It looks like the cards are a bit misleading - they actually look like you are offsetting your emissions or something, on their website it says it actually says makes “purchasing wind power easier then ever”. (see below)

Though maybe the Reuters article is a bit mistaken, the Renewable Choice press release seems a lot more above board and eco-dandy. Ah the complexities of eco-capitalism, always best to be a bit on the suspicious side I guess.

Update: Ok it seems the Reuters article wasn’t quite up to speed. These giftcards are a way for consumers to buy renewable energy credits, effectively off-setting their energy consumption. So it seems to be all above board.

More discussion at: Eco-Entrepeneur, sustainablog and Groovy Green.

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