While planting trees in Spain, a Dutch reforestation company’s equipment accidentally sparked a huge wildfire that has devastated at least 35,000 acres, and this is the second time it has happened. Vice News says the fire started Monday in Bubierca, a province of Zaragoza, the capital of autonomous community Aragon and it was started when a Land Life truck set off sparks that ignited the fire while planting trees.

Fortunately, firefighters were able to stop the fire’s spread but the fire threat caused the evacuation of five towns in which 2000 people had to flee. This was not the first time a fire has broken out when Land Life was involved and last month’s fire was a minor inferno, burning a little under 50 acres. But what happened was serious enough for Bubuerca’s mayor to weigh in (quoting Vice News):

“It is not good that it happens once and that they continue working,” the mayor of Bubierca told local media. “The Government of Aragon, instead of recommending that the activity cease, should have prohibited it, because there is time to repopulate these hills, where fire breaks out as soon as they throw iron on the stone.”

Land Life plants trees to offset carbon emissions from the usage of fossil fuels. Buying or investing in carbon offsets is championed by former Vice President Al Gore and many celebrities and companies buy carbon offsets to, in theory, neutralize their carbon footprint. But how many trees Land Life has actually planted — or what the net positive effect has been of planting trees to counteract carbon emissions is not known.

Most likely, like recycling, buying carbon offsets is nothing more than a way to make people feel good or relieve them of the guilt laid on people by environmentalists because they use fossil fuels. Carbon offsets are also similar to the indulgences used by the Catholic Church to help absolve people of their sins. Except environmentalists, if not the left in general, condemns human existence if not prioritizes death as opposed to Christianity, or Catholicism specifically, that values and cherishes life.

Image by ojkumena from Pixabay