CINCINNATI REDS FANS PAY 'GLOBAL WARMING TAX' TO CANTOR FITZGERALD

***REDS OFFICIAL GOT IDEA FROM WATCHING OSCARS. REDS' FAN MONEY WILL GO TO INDIA.***

• "The Reds are going green on Opening Day.

Adding to the list of historic firsts for the franchise, the Reds are the first major league sports team to go "carbon neutral" for their Opening Day game with the Chicago Cubs.

The team has agreed to purchase what are known as Voluntary Emission Reductions, essentially credits, to offset the estimated 96 tons of carbon expected to be emitted during today's game at Great American Ball Park.

The exact amount of the credits will be determined based on electric and gas usage at the stadium, said Declan Mullin, vice president of ball park operations.

The Reds' credits will be used to help retire the debt for an 11 megawatt wind project in India, said Rory Gopaul, director of operations for Carbon Solutions Group, a Chicago-based energy consultant which arranges the credits with CantorCO2E, a new alternative energy brokerage based in the United Kingdom.

Gopaul said the only other sports teams he knows that have bought these type of emission credits are a cycling team and a Vermont minor league baseball team.

• Mullin said he got the idea to buy the carbon offsets after watching the 79th Academy Awards a month ago. Performers and presenters at the event were given certificates representing elimination of a year's worth of carbon emissions.

"I thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool to do something like that?' " he said.

The Reds and Duke Energy also have agreed to earmark other dates for "green days" including Earth Day, April 22, when the Reds play the Philadelphia Phillies.

Sandra Meyer, Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky president, said the Reds' effort was a great way to raise global climate change awareness."

• Article in Cincinnati Enquirer by Mike Boyer, 4/2/07, "Reds Go Green with Cubs."

• I'll never attend a Reds game or that of any other team so cavalier and ignorant on the matter of global warming "taxes." sm

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