Purchasing offsets for carbon dioxide is an appealing idea. Sometimes we have to travel to meetings or we have to travel for research.1 Often that travel involves plane flights, and planes emit a lot of carbon dioxide. By purchasing a carbon offset, I invest a small amount of money in a project that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere equivalent to what my flight added.2 In other words, my flight didn't contribute to global warming.
Responsible Travel was one of the first companies to offer such offsets to travelers.
Buying offsets in that context has to help at least a little, doesn't it?3
Responsible Travel was one of the first companies to offer such offsets to travelers.
But last month 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. (source)Andy Revkin doesn't buy carbon offsets when he travels. I plan to continue buying them, because I'm buying them for travel I would have taken anyway. I'm not traveling more because the offsets are available. And I'll try to travel less, do more with conference calls, and I'll use Skype and web conferencing more often. I'll encourage groups I'm part of to do the same.
Buying offsets in that context has to help at least a little, doesn't it?3
1I'll be in South Africa for much of January for work on white proteas (Protea Section Exsertae).
2Or at least I hope that's what's happening. It is very difficulty for an individual consumer to know whether it really works that way. I buy my offsets from Terrapass, which seems to be pretty good. It's not the best, according to Carbon Catalog, but it's the most convenient for me.
3At least so long as the offset projects are real.
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