Michael Specter

Fair Game
The World

The threat of global warming has many businesses clamoring to get carbon neutral. The Super Bowl this year, for example, was powered by wind. Airlines sell carbon offsets so we feel less guilty burning jet fuel. And the latest wrinkle is food miles: a way to assess the carbon cost of foods based on how far they travel to reach the grocery store. It’s meant with good intentions, but my next guest says these carbon calculations are not all they’re cracked up to be. Michael Specter wrote about the difficulty of sizing up carbon footprints for the New Yorker magazine, and he speaks with Faith Salie on Fair Game.

Will you support The World today?

The story you just read is available for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

Make a gift today, and you’ll get us one step closer to our goal of raising $25,000 by June 14. We need your help now more than ever!