anyone for offsets?

Pearl Jam Seeding the Forest To Offset CO2 From 2009 Tour
Filed under: Eco-Celebs, business, donations, music — Elizah Leigh @ 4:42 pm
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A 20 year American rock institution with humble Seattle roots, Pearl Jam has enjoyed longevity in spite of their formerly dubbed grunge sound fading into the sunset. Now, they just play good old fashioned classic rock music which serves as the backdrop for their enduring environmental activism which interested fans can explore at great length right on their website. Mitigating carbon emissions from their global concert tours is nothing new for the quintet who’s been actively making eco-amends since 2003, but compensating for the 5,474 metric tons of CO2 generated from their latest 32 date 2009 tour admittedly seems like a tall order.

Pearl Jam founding member and guitarist Stone Gossard acknowledges that it is an unfortunate cost of doing business, explaining: “A band on tour generates a lot of carbon. We are constantly moving, using carbon-dependent forms of transportation and a great deal of energy.” As always, Pearl Jam is offsetting their tour-generated CO2 by financially supporting yet another eco-organization that works intently to help the environment, this time the Cascade Land Conservancy (CLC). The forest group’s $210,000 Puget Sound urban restoration project – in which 33 acres of land will be purged of invasive plant species and replaced with native botanicals and trees – is currently being bankrolled by the band and with an anticipated completion date of 3 years.


Taking advantage of their inherent carbon sink capabilities, it’s no small task to reforest a vast plot of land but the eco-benefits are many, including restoring the delicate balance of local ecosystems and offsetting “intense human pressures” that have resulted in the decline of this natural resource. This partnership could be considered a reunion of sorts in light of the fact that back in 1997, select members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarten also funded a Cascade foothills forest preservation project with the very same organization. Gossard is hoping that other bands and businesses will follow their lead by taking responsibility for the CO2 they generate – we would all be able to breathe a lot easier, Mother Nature included.