What to Know about Carbon Offsets
September 19, 2007. Flying has long been a common mode of travel, whether traveling on business or going to a luxury vacation rental. Recently, however, flying has been blamed as a culprit in global warming, because of the high amounts of pollution created during flight.
That has spawned a new program called "carbon offsets," a voluntary system in which participants pay a company to invest in projects that will offset their flight's carbon dioxide emissions. According to a Budget Travel Online article, however, not all carbon offset programs are created equal.
Take a trip from Massachusetts to Los Angeles, for example. Two different programs calculated two different costs to offset the carbon emissions of such a trip. One cost $10 while the other cost $65.
Budget Travel recommends asking a few questions:
How are donations used?
Are results guaranteed?
Is there a seal of approval?
Do you have a pet cause?
Critics charge that carbon offsets might create the illusion that consumers are buying a "pardon," but supporters say the programs support carbon-reducing projects, from tree-planting to renewable energy projects.
