02 Apr 2008 National Wildlife Federation’s Global Warming Expert Calls for Voluntary Action

By David Ridenour:

Laura Hickey, senior director of global warming education at the National Wildlife Federation said, “If people participate in a voluntary system, then I don’t see the need for a legislative strategy,” according to an article in the March 19 Washington Post.

Okay, to be fair, Hickey wasn’t referring to regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

She was referring to Catalogue Choice, a project set up by the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups to combat efforts to create a federal “do not mail” registry designed to stop junk mail. Catalogue Choice encourages retailers to voluntarily stop sending materials to people who sign up on Catalogue Choice’s own “do not mail” registry.

All this is a bit confusing: The National Wildlife Federation supports voluntary action in this case, but also supports the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, which would impose an involuntary cap on carbon emissions.

It’s not as though people don’t already “participate in a voluntary system” to reduce carbon emissions. There is, for example, the Chicago Climate Exchange.

Why does NWF support voluntary action and see “no need for a legislative strategy” in one case, but not the other?

Perhaps because NWF would have to pay a price in one case, but not the other. The NWF derives a significant portion of its revenue through the mail and a federal “do not mail” list could cost it dearly. Lest we forget, junk mail can not only be annoying, but is transported by carbon-spewing planes and trucks — something NWF is supposed to be against.

Say what one will about global warming skeptics: At least skeptics aren’t hypocrites.