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The fires in Australia are still raging. Parts of the Western U.S. are experiencing the worst droughts on record. It seems Fortune magazine summed it up correctly in a May 2000 article that called water a "precious commodity" in the 21st century. Consider this: less than three percent of the world's water is fresh. Unfortunately, beyond the challenges of a changing climate, three other factors have decreased that small amount of fresh water: pollution, habit degradation, and wetlands destruction. For both humans and their surrounding natural landscape, water conservation is critical.

The market for carbon offsets is huge. One website offers to calculate your carbon footprint, then urges you to offset it by donating to the Conservation Fund. Another site tells you that by purchasing offsets, you are fighting climate change.

The operation of buildings in the U.S. accounts for 43 percent of all U.S. carbon emissions, and 76 percent of U.S. electricity use. Every year five billion square feet are built in the U.S., five billion feet are renovated, and 1.75 billion square feet of buildings are demolished. Energy conservation and efficiency improvements in the building sector have the "greatest potential for an effective near-term mitigation wedge for climate change," according to a study cited by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).