NBC's Matt Lauer appeared live from Buenos Aires, Argentina as part of the latest installment of the "Today" show's "Where In The World Is Matt Lauer?" ratings gimmick and he went out of his way to assuage viewers that NBC News was doing their part to stay "green" in his travels.
Prompted by an e-mailer's question, read by co-host Meredith Vieira, Lauer assured the "Today" audience that they were going to purchase "carbon off-sets," as he dutifully noted: "We are taking great note of a green side of this trip, as much as humanly possible."
The following exchange occurred on the April 28, "Today" show:
MEREDITH VIEIRA: Listen I've got some e-mail questions that have been coming. And first off is Shaun from Jersey City, New Jersey, and he, who asks, "I have not heard any mention on how Matt Lauer plans to offset his carbon footprint from his upcoming trip around the world. I'm surprised that you have not incorporated a 'green' perspective into this year's trip?" What do you have to say, Matt?
MATT LAUER: Well you know what, that's very good. Now it's a very interesting point. We are actually very concentrated on that. We are calculating all of our air travel. Not just my air travel but every NBC employee who is flying as a part of this trip. We're calculating that air travel and the we are purchasing carbon off-sets. We're gonna take that money and we're gonna contribute to causes that help promote cleaner forms of energy all around the world. So yes we are, we are taking great note of a green side of this trip, as much as humanly possible, Meredith.
—Geoffrey Dickens is the senior news analyst at the Media Research Center.





MATT LAUER: Well you know what, that's very good. Now it's a very interesting point. We are actually very concentrated on that. We are calculating all of our air travel. Not just my air travel but every NBC employee who is flying as a part of this trip. We're calculating that air travel and the we are purchasing carbon off-sets. We're gonna take that money and we're gonna contribute to causes that help promote cleaner forms of energy all around the world. So yes we are, we are taking great note of a green side of this trip, as much as humanly possible, Meredith.















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Comments Policy
Exhale
April 28, 2008 - 16:56 ET by BurgherCalculate the co2 in you bad breath Matt.
NBC should have been all over this during "green" week. I think they slipped here, either they don't beleive the AGW dogma or they are hypocryts,,,,, or both
Matt has vowed to forgo one
April 28, 2008 - 17:01 ET by nicksmith112Matt has vowed to forgo one helicopter ride to the weekend mansion in the Hampton's. What more do you people want...'Leave Matt Alone!"....LOL
Couldn't Matt stand in front of a Green screen in NYC with a Buenos Aires back drop?
I'm a refugee from the Democratic Party.
You hit the nail on the head
April 28, 2008 - 19:53 ET by sam.i.amAnother limosine liberal. . .
http://www.realkiteboarding.com/index.cfm?page=newsitem&id=1360
A little google searching turned up this nausea-inducing fact: almost all of the network news talking heads live in the Hamptons. . .
AND THEY THINK WE ARE OUT-OF-TOUCH!!!!!
How much misery will have
April 28, 2008 - 17:05 ET by mattmHow much misery will have to be caused by all this "green" nonsense before people start rioting? Oh, I guess it's already happening....
Does anyone know where can I buy 'ignorance offsets' for Mr. Lauer?
Human
April 28, 2008 - 17:07 ET by cheesegraterAs soon as he qualified his statement about doing something with "humanly possible" he negated all that came before. He is, as the great Bob Grant would say,a fake, a phony and a fraud.
Let Me Guess
April 28, 2008 - 17:14 ET by geoff.galeIf I were a betting man, I'd bet that those carbon credits that Viera hyped are purchased from Algores firm that sells carbon credits. Wouldn't that be an incestuously cozy relationship?
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
- Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)
www.conservativeboot...
Do as I say, not as I do . . .
April 28, 2008 - 20:55 ET by GalvanicOf course they'll turn to Gore. Where else would they turn?
Twits like Viera and Lauer don't even see their hypocrisy until viewers point it out to them.
Hey, will an independent accounting firm certify that the carbon-offset calculation was correct and the money was deposited?
Nah. They know viewer will forget.
Caaahbon Credits, As Ted Kennedy would say
April 28, 2008 - 21:41 ET by geoff.galeWhile they might be able to verify the financial transactions, they'll never be able to verify the science behind the caaahbon credit theory.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
- Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)
www.conservativeboot...
I was so sickened by this
April 28, 2008 - 17:26 ET by pepsiman127I was so sickened by this patronising green b.s. that i decided to undue matts undone carbon footprint by burning 3 large tractor tires outside. :)
FUNNY...
April 29, 2008 - 00:37 ET by danybhoyI ended up kicking myself, I put on a new set of Pirelli's on my car, & I should have kept my old tires. I was planning to celebrate "Earth Day" a few days later by burning my old tires. I always enjoy the smell of them & love the sight of the black smoke going into the sky. I forgot to tell the guys in the shop I wanted to keep the old ones for this purpose. It would have been fun.
"Some of us are wise, some of us are otherwise" Mark Levin
glad to see the waste
April 28, 2008 - 17:31 ET by wizardjrI'm so glad to see these idiots wasting their money on nonsense like carbon offsets. The more the merrier. Right now it is 37 degrees here in the Twin Cities. Global Warming my a$$! I'm going to go get a truck with a bigger V-8 than my current one and let it idle in the driveway for a week. There was actually snow on my fishing boat last week for goodness sakes.
Consider this...
April 28, 2008 - 17:51 ET by NiftySwellWith all the record snow fall in Colorado, Alaska, and Canada right now just imagine how cold and how much snow would have fallen if it hadnt been for global warming! We have had record rain in VA and I wonder to myself...thank goodness for global warming which is supposed to be producing drought like conditions...otherwise we would have had all of Richmond slip into the James river. Maybe Gory has all this backwards...maybe we need to be encouraging it?
Yes. Keep doing that Today.
April 28, 2008 - 17:53 ET by Dave in TexasI applaud this, but not for the reasons that anyone is thinking. If Today starts feeling guilty about the CO2 they're producing, and starts purchasing offsets for everything, that's just going to increase their operating expenses. Eventually someone will look at their expenses and realize that the money they're spending on offsets means they have less money for everything else. When story ideas start getting killed, or people start getting laid off, maybe they'll put 2 and 2 together. It'll be a nice economic lesson for them.
Check Out the Biz Flog From This Week
April 28, 2008 - 18:03 ET by Paul Detrickhttp://eyeblast.tv/public/video.aspx?RsrcID=2218
It is all about Mr. Lauer.
Purchasing carbon offsets
April 28, 2008 - 18:18 ET by goldboughPurchasing carbon offsets does nothing. So they pay some company to supposedly plant a tree or whatever. It just makes them feel good. If NBC were really serious about reducing their emissions, they wouldn't emit in the first place. It's quite obvious by now that rich people and companies don't really mean what they say about global warming. We've heard Huffington and Sting's wife admit they are hypocrites.
When these loony left
April 28, 2008 - 18:29 ET by nicksmith112When these loony left celebs fly from coast to coast and are limo'd from show to show to promote their latest flop and then lecture the minions about Global Warming,
I wonder why they didn't stay home and do a webcam or ISDN line interview???
I wonder where Matt is....lol.
I'm a refugee from the Democratic Party.
Shut down MSNBC
April 28, 2008 - 18:55 ET by Mica the MagnificentIf they really are concerned with their carbon footprint, why don't they just shut down MSNBC?
Think of all the energy they could save from all that lighting, camera's, flying guests in, etc.
By shutting down, why, I bet they could single-handedly keep the earth cooler for years.
EXACTLY...
April 29, 2008 - 00:42 ET by danybhoygoldbough,
Carbon offsets are a joke, & I will just add this, do you trust some hippie huckster to promise to plant trees after you pay them? Or are like me, I trust big, evil, timber companies to replant trees after I buy wood & paper products. The free market system works.
"Some of us are wise, some of us are otherwise" Mark Levin
What they really need to
April 28, 2008 - 18:30 ET by MidAmericaWhat they really need to buy are some 'intelligence' offsets. Every time they talk about dumb things they should contribute to a college scholarship somewhere.
With that red sweater on and
April 28, 2008 - 19:00 ET by BlazerWith that red sweater on and his hand over his heart, it look's more like he's standin' in the middle of Caracas, singin' a love song to Hugo Chavez, instead of being in Buenos Aires.
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "
- Ben Kenobi on Liberals, and the MSM.
" The Cake is a lie."
Do you think Matt has a 4
April 28, 2008 - 19:10 ET by nicksmith112Do you think Matt has a 4 or 5 ton AC compressor out at the Hampton's shanty???
I'm a refugee from the Democratic Party.
nicksmith 112: Five ton
April 28, 2008 - 19:19 ET by Mica the MagnificentI believe the 5 ton compressor is just for his pool house.
I might just listen to what
April 28, 2008 - 19:47 ET by nicksmith112I might just listen to what these rich celeb lefty loons had to say if only they themselves made a fleeting effort to tone down their own planet pilfering.
Put up a wind tower or solar panels for their own home. Not even the primary residence. I'll take getting the 3rd house off the energy grid.
There was a time when putting up solar panels to power a portion of the house (hot water?) was a huge write off.....translation: would cost you NOTHING to install!!!
I'm a refugee from the Democratic Party.
As A Capitalist...
April 28, 2008 - 20:01 ET by Airforce_5_OI wish I had got in on this Carbon off set crap...Man the money these crap is making. I can plant trees. anyone want to join me?
Matt in Argentina
April 28, 2008 - 20:30 ET by allanfUnlike the rest of you I am prefectly happy to see Matt in Buenos Aires. I hope he stays there, carbon footprint and all.
Good Grief!! Liberal men
April 29, 2008 - 00:32 ET by SvenGood Grief!! Liberal men are such a bunch of wussies!
Note to Matt...Global Warming, Climate change, Carbon Credits Al Gore etc., etc. have Jumped the shark! Enough already!
CARBON FOOTPRINTS...
April 29, 2008 - 01:01 ET by danybhoyUnlike most lefties(including many RINOS), I love big "carbon footprints", I wish mine was bigger. I love things that have big "carbon footprints", I love cars, trucks, planes, I love things that require coal fire plants for power, & I'm not ashamed of it.
I love music that requires a bunch of eletric guitars, lots of high power amplification, & when this type of music it played live, it should have a large stage with lots of lights & pyrotechnics. The band should fly around to all their gigs, burning up tons of fuel. No hippies with their accoustic sets for me. All of which will have a large "Carbon Footprint". That's my selfish indulgence.
I like air conditioning in the summer, I like heat in the winter( I am in Minnesota). I like cooking on the BBQ, & this is just a short list. Just step back & think of ALL of the things you enjoy, ALL of the things we take for granted that have a large "carbon footprint", & ask yourself if you are willing to give them up. I am not.
"Some of us are wise, some of us are otherwise" Mark Levin
Where in the world...
April 29, 2008 - 10:28 ET by AlabamaWith the record snowfalls this past year, and the fact that it was 50 degrees when I woke up this morning (in April! That's just not right...), I'm wondering if all of Matt Lauer's stops are going to be warm weather destinations? After all, taking a trip to any place snow-covered could put a serious damper on their GW agenda... (unless of course they have photographic evidence that said snow-covered place used to have more snow...)
*edit* Just to be clear, by warm weather destination, I mean someplace not commonly covered by year-round (or almost year-round) snows, not necessarily that I expect him to be hopping around the tropics... I'm pretty sure Buenos Aires is cool this time of year
Nice idea, but it's flawed.
April 29, 2008 - 12:58 ET by Conservative BluesNice idea, but it's flawed. All that would do is add to the idiocy in the world by supporting the largest bastion of liberal thinking in the country - college campuses. Are there home-schooling programs for college?
Ecclesiastes 10:2 - "The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."