BY CHAD CLARK

For those of you who have interest in global warming you have probably come across the term carbon offset. The idea of writing a check every month to help take the edge off one’s personal carbon footprint is certainly appealing because simply put, it sounds easy. To obtain an offset all you have to do is pay a third party to remove C02 in amounts equal to what you emit. But in reality, the way carbon offsets actually work is really ambiguous and potentially fraudulent.

Most everyone knows that it is carbon dioxide emissions (greenhouse gas) generated from the burning of fossil fuels that are primarily responsible for climate change. So reducing, or completely eliminating these emissions is really the best and most logical way to stop global warming.

To put it in perspective, during the Industrial Revolution C02 emissions were at their highest levels since the beginning of recorded history. That’s not hard to imagine with all the coal-burning factories, but today C02 emissions are 40% higher than during the Industrial Revolution.

It seems overwhelming but the first step is to reduce the amount of C02 you are producing. Perhaps taking public transportation or purchasing an electric car would be a solution, however, a lot of people are discovering that purchasing carbon offsets is an easy cost-effective way of reducing one’s carbon footprint. Carbon offsets tend to be more cost effective and practical than taking on global warming on your own. For example, it is more environmentally friendly and cost-effective to build a large-scale wind energy farm in the desert than constructing a windmill in your backyard.

In order to purchase offsets you first have to figure out just how much carbon you are producing; it may surprise you. There are many online carbon calculators that make this task easy (www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx). Then, all you have to do is purchase a tax-deductible offset to cancel out your personal carbon emissions. The cost of the offset is then utilized by third-party companies to invest in renewable energy or energy conservation. For example, a mid-sized, 30 mpg car driving 12,000 miles/year produces about 3.55 tons of CO2 annually. A typical offset would cost only about $19.50 a year to compensate for this—essentially you are driving a zero-emissions car.

Carbon offsets can be a great way to put global warming on our minds on a daily basis and the impact we each make, but they can also serve as an excuse to continue polluting as much as you want (Hey you can just offset it).

Unfortunately, a lot of people are trying to make a quick buck by jumping on the green bandwagon. Often it isn’t so much about actually reducing carbon emissions but the prestige of saying that you did.

Many companies have announced that they intend to make carbon a neutral part of their brand identity. Volkswagon and Travelocity are offering carbon offsets for transportation. In 2005 Syriana was marketed as the first carbon neutral movie followed by An Inconvenient Truth. HSBC, Google, Ben & Jerry’s, and the Dave Matthews Band have all boasted a zero carbon footprint plan. All commendable, but it is usually a good idea to check around to see if companies are practicing what they are preaching.

Currently in America, we have no standards of what is a valid offset. When done correctly offsets can make a positive impact; however, some offsetting can be revealed to be merely symbolic and can detract efforts from more effective measures. Recently Clean Air-Cool Planet in Portsmouth, N.H., ranked 30 offset companies on a scale of 1 to 10. The results were that 75% of these companies scored below a 5. Ecobusinesslinks.com offers a comprehensive comparison of companies offering offsets and seems to indicate that prices vary widely for the same services. So before you run out and start buying offsets for yourself and giving them as gifts for family and friends, it is important to do some research as to the validity of this rather intangible checkbook environmentalism.

To further complicate things, there are many varying methods for getting rid of carbon—ranging from planting trees to burning off excess methane gas from landfills. So unless you are planning on traveling to some rainforest to verify for yourself if that company actually planted that tree, carbon offsets remain essentially invisible.

Two San Francisco organizations, Business for Social Responsibility and Ecosystem Marketplace, have teamed up to create guidelines on the voluntary carbon market.

Regardless whether or not carbon offsets are actually effective it is important that people are beginning to think about the cost, impact, and scale of their carbon imprint on a daily basis. A price has been put on carbon and that makes folks take notice. Furthermore, any additional funds invested into renewable energy sources is essentially good and will eventually shift our dependence on fossil fuel.

Sites offering carbon offsets:

www.atmosclear.org
www.carbonfund.org
www.e-bluehorizons.com
www.driveneutral.org
www.terrapass.com
www.standardcarbon.com
www.self.org/cnc.asp
www.nativeenergy.com
www.driveneutral.org