Comments on: The Truth About Carbon Offsets

By: Karbon Kenny

Karbon Kenny — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:40:54 +0000

There are free carbon offsets here:

http://www.freecarbonoffsets.com

By: So what’s the deal with carbon offsets?

So what’s the deal with carbon offsets? — Sat, 17 May 2008 21:27:58 +0000

[...] offers a ton of content on green travel in general, and carbon offsets in particular. Start with The Truth About Carbon Offsets, Simple Ways To Travel Greener, and The Inconvenient Truth About Green [...]

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By: Nomadic Ostrich

Nomadic Ostrich — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:00:44 +0000

i have to agree with Ron, travel offsetting is marketing gobbledygook. compare the scale of carbon dioxide emissions from travel industry, from transport industry and from households. it seems, that to keep “clear conscience”, we yet again concentrate on small pseudo-solutions instead of the core of the problem.

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By: Ron Mader

Ron Mader — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 01:52:27 +0000

Good essay and great questions. My view – personal travel offsetting is a scam.

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By: BNT’s Best Of The Week 11/10/07

BNT’s Best Of The Week 11/10/07 — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:33:43 +0000

[...] travel is an indulgence. Purchasing carbon offsets is one way for eco-conscious fliers to assuage their guilt. But, as Annalee Newitz notes at [...]

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By: E.M. Rogers

E.M. Rogers — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:54:31 +0000

I’d be curious to see how this debate applies to business travellers since they make up a significant portion of airline passengers.

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By: Mala Mukunda

Mala Mukunda — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:05:23 +0000

Recently, Greenpeace volunteers in the UK set up booths in airports across the country urging travelers to exchange their return air tickets with free train tickets educating them about the effects of air travel on the environment. As airport check-ins are getting longer, it definitely makes more sense to reject flying to destinations that are less than 3 hours away (Greenpeace was encouraging train travel from London to Manchester, which takes a little over 2 hours by train).
Mala Mukunda

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By: ianmack

ianmack — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 18:12:31 +0000

There seems to be a debate going on right now about the value of carbon offsets — but I agree with Doug & Derek; it’s only one part of the larger solution.

Offsetting is a temporary measure while we get our act together shifting away from habits that contribute the pollution in the first place. I’m looking forward to your article on that transition, Derek.

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By: Derek Wallace

Derek Wallace — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 22:04:55 +0000

“The hard truth is that we must support these programs. But if we want to turn this problem around, we must also reduce our consumptionÃ¢â‚¬â€œincluding our air travel.”

EXACTLY!

Great article, Doug…however, I hope that in a future guest post you point to some alternatives for how the world economy is supposed to maintain itself without crashing, which will surely hurt more people than “the growing conflict between growing food for people and for engines, a conflict in which the poor will lose”. The crash is coming, that much is certain. But what we can do to help others transition into lives of sustainability, that’s the key (and is also a subject I’ll be addressing shortly).

Peace and health and keep up the great work,

Derek

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