The Laws of Nature and Carbon Footprints -- Grrrr !! Growl !! Hissssss !!

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"The Sovereign Individual" as Micro Profit Center

The Right of Eminent Domain versus the Right of Immanent Domain

Carbon Claim Jumpers & Micro Property Rights

The International Micro Social Security Payment

The Carbon-Micro-Offset per diem


"Property Rights are always and everywhere a genetic phenomenon."

Sound familiar? It's a parallel re-statement of Milton Friedman's well-known economic dictum: "Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon." For centuries natural philosophers and economists have debated the origin of property rights. What are they?

-- (1) a Divine Right from Heaven or God ?

-- (2) the Natural Order of Things = a Law of Nature ?

-- (3) a recent Human Artifact of modern society and law ?

-- (4) something else ?

#2 is most likely -- the natural human proclivity for property rights is genetic. In short, it is programmed by genes and is the human gene expression equivalent of territorial instinct in animals.

Ants, which evolved 120 million years ago, know instinctively to kill other species of ants that invade their territory. Male hummingbirds zealously defend their most fragrant flower patch to the far asymptote of neutral net energy gain. Even dogs, domesticated for thousands of years, like land surveyors, still know instinctively to pee in the corners of their yards. The Spartans knew naturally to resist the incursion of the Persians. And a San Diego man this week instinctively fought off two barbarians who tried to pillage his beer at gunpoint, even taking a bullet in the buttocks to preserve his territorial right to get buzzed.

Another way of defining territorial instincts or property rights in animals? -- it is the physical space containing the minimum caloric or minimum energy content needed to support the animal and its mate (or mates) and offspring. Without this minimum caloric content under its control, the animal will starve to death or undergo gene expression changes unfavorable to its reproductive success (e.g., low sex-hormone levels). In sum, animals instinctively know how much property/space they need to successfully avoid genetic death.

In fact, I predict that scientists will soon identify a single human gene coding for territorial instinct. Counter-intuitively, complex behaviors in animals are often monogenic. Many scientists being male, they will christen the gene -- mi6PaK -- and the gene product or protein -- dysBdZ4u. Or, alternatively -- Hu8miKSO ?

A murine gene-deletion model will result in stoner love-prone mice that happily give away all their pot with no expectation of reward. Thus proving that communal "ownership" of property and communes are unnatural territorial constructs of crackpots and potheads. Parenthetically, this gene, or a splice variant of it and its protein product, may already be known to us as a stress-induced hormone or metabolic (hunger-related) hormone.

Regardless, modern economists and rational thinkers agree that private Property Rights are the fundamental basis of all economic activity and wealth creation. But what do we see happening in the Developing World today? -- corporate carbon carpetbaggers & claim-jumpers and well-meaning but over-weaning NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and charities are exercising de facto eminent domain and unjustly taking the carbon footprints of Poor Individuals for a spectrum of misplaced reasons ranging from the "positive" extreme -- for the communal good -- to the very negative extreme -- for corporate profits.

Yet if the Poor slaving at the "Bottom of the Pyramid" knew the true economic value of their abstract and now-offset footprints, their natural instinct to protect their territory or property rights (let us call it "the Right of Immanent Domain") would certainly be aroused -- Grrrr !! -- it's in their genes! Hence, if the Poor knew, they would autonomously say: "Pharaoh! -- Let my carbon offsets go!"

Our Mission at Carbon Manna Unlimited is to reawaken the Poor worldwide, make them aware that their property rights are being violated, and establish each of them as a Micro Profit Center and "Sovereign Individual" free to monetize the value of their own carbon offsets. The cell-phone-based Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) described at length in this blog empowers any Poor Individual in Africa or Asia to benefit directly and solely by selling his or her own carbon offsets to the highest bidder in Europe or America.

Are you skeptical? How nice! -- skepticism is the unnatural luxury of a full stomach and a partially empty mind. Rather than be skeptical, be a Renaissance Man and wholistic problem-solver, which is much harder.

As a natural corollary of the discussion above, what is another way to define the Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) described in earlier posts here ? -- it is the CO2 released per human-being per day by cooking with biomass the daily caloric content Homo sapiens can gather from their genetically-determined range or territory. Or, from the territory they would normally dominate, ceteris paribus, if Planet Earth were not unnaturally over-crowded, as it is sadly today.

The SICMC in the Developing World is guesstimated in posts below as 2 kgs of CO2/person/day. Individuals who qualify under the means-testing formulas described below in this blog should be paid the full retail value of this daily offset if they cook with solar or a more efficient charcoal stove (instead of biomass) -- even if some days a Cruel Providence prevents them from gathering and cooking their minimum daily-required caloric content.

In short, on some days the SICMC instead becomes a form of International Micro Social Security (IMSS) -- a social micro-transfer payment or a social safety-net for the World's poorest Poor. This logical and daily monetary allowance in the range of only 5 - 10 cents/day/person should also be the Natural Order of Things in a now overcrowded and Unnatural World.

As well, whether the SICMC on any specific day is paid for a produced carbon offset or paid partially as a social welfare payment should not matter to carbon project managers and offset accreditation agencies. They should give the Poor the benefit of the doubt. And allow the Poor to receive a Living Wage as compensation for days they could not find or afford enough food to cook. The Poor can then use that Living Wage to go buy food and make up their caloric deficit. And make up their carbon-offset deficit at the same time.

Another way of describing the latter situation is to instead call the Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) the Carbon-Micro-Offset per diem.

If you are an American, your state congressmen collect per diems while they are in your state capitol ranging from US$ 60 - 200/day -- whether they actually incur any expenses or not. Are they poor and living on only US$ 1 - 2/day ? No, but they still collect this daily free money from taxpayers. If your well-off congressman merits up to US$ 200/day for free, cannot the Poor merit 5 - 10 cents/day/person "for free" on days they are unable to cook adequate food?

Any rational human-being in America or Europe should instinctively realize the economic equity of the Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) and the Carbon-Micro-Offset per diem, and likewise recognize the Sanctity of Property Rights in the Developing World, no matter how micro the Property, and no matter how poor the Individual.

Let's all honor micro-property rights worldwide. It's the Law of Nature.

And let's all allow the Poor to eat without being "skeptical". That's the Law of Grace. Can you feel it?

Very territorially yours,

David A. Palella
Chief Carbon Geneticist
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED

San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com

http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella

http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com

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The Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC)

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2 kilograms of CO2/person/day -- more or less ?

A New Universal Constant

"Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting" ? [ Daniel 5:27 ]


In my November 20, 2008 post below I defined the Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) as approximately 2 kilograms of CO2/person/day -- the amount of CO2 emitted per day per person by cooking with biomass if a human being is to survive at a subsistence level. This equates exactly, of course, to the carbon offset created by instead cooking with solar, for example.

Sadly, this New Universal Constant probably applies only to a protein-poor diet in the Developing World. If the Poor in the Developing World are actually fortunate enough to experience a more "normal" nutritional composition in their diet and a higher caloric intake, then the SICMC could approach 3 - 4 kilograms of CO2/person/day. Whatever, I leave it to environmental and nutrition scientists to debate the fine points and weigh the issues down to the gram.

Once rigorously defined, the Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) should be accepted by all governments, NGOs, and carbon project originators, managers & auditors without debate and equivocation. The Poor are already hungry. We should immediately respect their Micro Property Rights and let them claim already what is rightfully theirs.

So taking into account the average family size in the Developing World (5 - 6 persons...?), the daily value of the Carbon Micro Credits a family could earn by cooking with solar or an efficient charcoal stove is substantial for people living on US$ 1/day. For details, see the calculation down below from one Indonesian study prepared for submission to the U.N. CDM (Clean Development Mechanism).

The revenue a family could earn might range from US$ 40 - 100/year or more, depending on offset market prices in Europe. So what if millions or 10s of millions of families reduced their emissions and claimed their credits every year? Would excess carbon offsets be produced? Would market prices drop? If so, who will be victimized? The Poor in the Developing World? Or rich corporations gaming the U.N.'s CDM scheme ?

The answer in short ? -- the loooooong discussions on Means Testing in my posts below of 26 & 28 November 2008. Let the Poor sell their offsets first and at a higher price. Let the Rich find another financial game to play.

Can the well-fed and often overweight Rich in America & Europe submit to the Rule of Common Sense and the Divinity of Compassion and share the Manna of carbon-offsets trading? Or, will they be weighed in the balances and found wanting?

Globally & warmly yours,

David A. Palella
Chief Dreamer
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED

San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com

http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella

http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com

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Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) --

CO2 Emission Calculation

Reference:

"Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Solar Cooker Project
Aceh 1, Indonesia", pg. 5, Section 4.
[ authors' full contact info down below ]

An undated PDF document from late 2005 or early 2006...?

This rigorous technical proposal prepared for submission to the U.N. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) states that the average family not cooking with biomass reduces CO2 emissions by 3.5 tons/year. Very similar figures from JPMorgan's British subsidiary Climate Care echo this amount.

So the value of Carbon Credits from using 1 solar cooker/year/family is:

3.5 tons CO2/device/year X $25/ton or credit = $87.50

Based on December 2008 forward contract price from:

http://www.carboncapitalmarkets.com/home.php


Therefore, let's define a Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) for a family as the CO2 saved/day by not cooking with biomass =

(3.5 tons/year x 2,000 lbs/ton)
--------------------------------------- = 19.18 lbs/day of CO2/family
365 days/year

This carbon credit calculation is only for CO2 emitted when burning deadwood or other biomass such as dried grass, cow dung, etc. Of course, an assumption about average family size must be made to find the Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) per person.

<<------------------------------------------------------------>>

Reference Details:

"Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Solar Cooker Project
Aceh 1, Indonesia", pg. 5, Section 4.

Authors:

Herliyani Suharta
Agency for the Assessment & Application of Technology
The Center for Energy Technology
(BPPT-BBTE)
c/o PUSPIPTEK, Serpong
Tangerang, Indonesia
email: herli@iptek.net.id

Dieter Seifert
Advisor
CDM Solar Cooker Project
Development Germany
email: bdiv.seifert@t-online.de

AAM Sayigh
World Renewable Energy Network
Brighton, U.K.
email: asayigh@netcomuk.co.uk

<<------------------------------------------------------------>>

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Carbon Micro Property Rights & the Death of Microfinance

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Will Carbon Micro-Property Rights supplant Microfinance?

Will the Death of Microfinance be greatly exaggerated?

A pan-African sushi buffet ?

Over 1 billion dispossessed ! ?


Has anyone ever asked the question: "Is there really a need for micro-charity and/or microfinance?"

Perhaps not. In short, as described at length in this blog, if the carbon micro-property rights of the Poor in the Third World were respected, and if they could indeed monetize their reduced-carbon footprints by cooking with an efficient Uganda stove and selling their earned offsets, for example, would there be such a need for micro-charity and micro-finance? I venture to say, the need for them both would be reduced 50 - 75 %. Or more.

If the world's NGOs and major governments would just embrace the Common Sense of the Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) described below in detail in my post of November 20, 2008, and engage in a "willing suspension of disbelief" regarding the indisputable fact that human beings do indeed have to eat a certain amount of cooked food every day (or they unwillingly go hungry, in which case the SICMC then becomes a well-merited social-transfer payment), then the need for traditional microcharity and microfinance would be hugely reduced.

Are Africa's one billion people eating sushi every day?

Are they not cooking at home daily with biomass but, rather, dining out at the local McDonald's?

Are they cooking with electric stoves or gas ranges instead of biomass?

Are they fasting 1 or 2 days per week by choice for religious or health reasons?

The answer to all of these foolish questions, of course, is "No!"

But the vast majority of the "intelligentsia" in America & Europe wearing overcoats of subcutaneous body fat doubt the assumption that hyper-low body-mass-index Africans consume food cooked with biomass, and therefore doubt the validity of the Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC). When the topic of Carbon Micro Credits is raised, they repeatedly express "concerns" about "validation" and "fraud", while the Poor in Africa starve, as happened again recently in southern Ethiopia. Lamentably, excessive feeding starves the brain of Common Sense, and the Rich are poor in compassion.

If we respected the Micro-Property Rights of the Poor in the Developing World and enabled them to sell their annual carbon offsets every year for US$ 45 - 100 per family, as well as allowed them to save 20 - 60 % of their daily income by not having to buy expensive cooking fuels or biomass, then they could immediately elevate their standard of living by 25 - 75 %. If so, then the need for both microfinance and micro-charity in the Developing world would be greatly reduced.

If we further compensated Africans at the village-level for reforestation programs, methane-capture projects, and other green house gas-mitigation efforts, the income of the average African could be elevated even further. As written before below, the Rich in the Developed World should let the Poor in the Developing World inherit the carbon markets.

Respecting Carbon Micro Property Rights worldwide would be the beginning of the end for micro-charity, and likewise reduce the role of microfinance. Markets-based solutions are the economic Natural Order of Things. Property Rights are similarly Divine and "self-evident". Remember, "the Poor shall inherit the Earth." Let Rich Stupidity die so they may inherit their rightful Property now.

Warmly & rightfully yours,

David A. Palella
Chief Dreamer
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED

San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com

http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella

http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com

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