Forget the Blues, rising indie-rock star Kelley Stoltz is singing the Greens [1]. With his new, crticially acclaimed record, Below the Branches [2] (Sub Pop [3] ), Stoltz is breaking new ground in the music industry as the first artist to offset the greenhouse gasses emitted during the creation of his album with renewable-energy credits.

With the help of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation [3] and the Green-e program [3], which has become the gold standard of made-with-renewable-energy certification, Stolz set the precedent easily and affordably. Green-e labels [4] are beginning to appear on products from wine bottles and organic [4] juices to carpets, and – now – CD cases.

In an interview on ModernPeaPod.com [5] Stoltz explains, in rocker patois: “You can buy into the electricity grid and get renewable energy credits... I've been using oil and stuff like that, glutins and war-causers - you can replace that with wind power and solar power being pushed into the system instead. For like $120.”

Given how easy it is to buy offsets, it begs the question: Why aren't more of us offseting the carbon emissions from our professional and personal activities, whether it's traveling, designing, building, or blog-writing?

Photo credit: Modern Pea Pod [6]