It used to be that an Our Father and a Hail Mary would go along way in soothing the conscience by overriding the sin of gluttony. In the early ’60s to rebel against conspicuous consumption one bought a Beetle to flaunt and prick the conscience of the Cadillac driver. But the current lunacy rivals even the Vatican’s dishonor in commercially offering indulgences in the middle ages. This lunacy is in voluntary carbon offsets to counter the gluttonous energy user who guzzles down the planet’s resources. Even Gore justifies his own energy appetite by this face-saving indulgence and “convenience.” This is tantamount to “Yeah, I cheat on my spouse but, hell, I’m the breadwinner and entitled. If the rich and famous won’t be seen dead in a Prius, or even the lowlife environmentally but passively aware do not wish to lift a finger to conserve, can now through this Wall Street and Internet scam “offset” shameful energy consumption by perhaps buying a few trees for Timbuktu or starting a windmill farm in Peru [yeah, I bet] while with a convenient clear conscience the rich continue to drive round in their limousines and Hummers or the lowlife in their ’60 two-tone Buick and ’53 fish fin Cadillac.