Russell Seitz

April 30, 2008

Lit without flame by a solar spark, and consuming mere ounces of fuel a day as it is carried by fleet footed runners, the Olympic torch is acquiring a monumental carbon footprint none the less—it is being spirited across the oceans on a dedicated Chinese Airbus 330 belching forth 129 pounds of CO2 for every mile it travels.

In all , Earthlab estimates the jet will consume 462 thousand gallons of fuel-  petro, not bio. So it will take 20,130 tonnes of CO2 to see the torch around the world on its meandering 85,000 mile Odyssey from Greece to Beijing.

It’s not the CO2 that galls , but the hypocrisy of the ‘Green ” olympics ignoring its own detritus.