Greenies divided on carbon food miles

A study published at Iowa State University this year found that transport was responsible for just 4pc of greenhouse gases produced during the life cycle of food. Production accounted for 83pc.

Is a carbon diet on your shopping list?

Earlier this year, the British supermarket chain Tesco began labeling some of its 70,000 products to reflect the carbon released in the their production, transport, and consumption. The 3,729 store behemoth, the world's fourth-largest retailer, now has 20 carbon-labeled items on its shelves, core items such as orange juice and laundry detergent.

The intent, said Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy, is to educate and empower consumers to make informed decisions about their purchases.

But some observers question whether such labels are providing consumers with information that they neither want nor understand. This past April, Forum for the Future, a green think tank in London, issued a report on carbon labeling, noting the danger in providing information without context to consumers.

CO2-hysteric Newsom jets to China to brag about the allegedly "big" climate difference achieved by his policies 

In an opening address at the US China Green Tech Summit in Shanghai this week, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said local leaders must set the tone on affecting climate change.
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He noted San Francisco’s plastic bag ban, recycling program, solar tax incentive, green building standards, Styrofoam food tray ban and other measures as easy initiatives any city could do that make a big difference.

“I think we’ve overplayed the notion that this is somehow deleterious and challenging – reducing our carbon footprint,” Newsom said. “I can assure you what we’ve done in San Francisco has been easy.”