Experts say carbon offsets offset only travelers' guilt

[Baack]

In 2002 Responsible Travel became one of the first travel companies to offer customers the option of buying so-called carbon offsets to counter the planet-warming emissions gene
rated by their airline flights

But in October, Responsible Travel canceled the program, saying that while it might help travelers feel virtuous, it was not helping to reduce global emissions. In fact, company officials said, it might even encourage some people to travel or consume more.
"The carbon offset has become this magic pill, a kind of get-out-of-jail-free card," Justin Francis, the managing director of Responsible Travel, said in an interview. "It's seductive to the consumer who says, 'It's $4 and I'm carbon-neutral, so I can fly all I want."'
Offsets, he argues, are distracting people from making more significant behavioral changes, like flying less.
In theory, the purchase of carbon offsets is supposed to cancel out the emissions generated by activities like flying or heating office buildings by directing money to programs that reduce emissions elsewhere, like tree-planting in Africa or a hydropower project in Brazil. An airline passenger might volunteer to pay $5 to $40 to offset his flight, with the price linked to distance.

http://www.starbulletin.com/news/nyt...ers_guilt.html

[msmspilot]

Can you say DUH!!!!!

Even if global warming was based on settled science (which is a stupid phrase for a scientist. Science is never truly settled).