Carbon Offsetting: Not All Credits are Created Equal
Looking through her latest Money magazine this past weekend, Emily (wife) relayed an uncomfortable point made by one of the articles: not all carbon offsets are created equal. I say uncomfortable, because personally I found it pretty inspiring to find out how affordable carbon offsetting could be. Of course, whether they do it intentionally or not, companies can easily capitalize on my good feelings at becoming a more responsible citizen of the planet. It’s critical to remember that these companies are for-profit organizations, which means their main goal is to maximize their own growth and profits. This inevitably leads to certain trade-offs between the quality of the particular programs that the sole carbon offsets support, and the profit margin on the credits themselves. As with any other part of the market, caveat emptor (buyer beware) rules the day; if the consumer lacks information or expertise about a product, it’s inevitable that less scrupulous companies will come along to take advantage ...
Posted on November 20, 2007 12:16:16 PM EST
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