I know this post might make a few people angry, but I'm not trying to be politically correct. I am just voicing my opinion. I think carbon offsets are a huge and unnecessary scam.Here is what WikiHow says carbon offsets are:
"Carbon offsets are becoming an increasingly popular way for individuals and businesses to participate in solutions to global warming. The basic idea of a carbon offset is to figure out your personal contribution level to the global warming problem from such activities as driving, flying, or home energy use. This contribution is called a "carbon footprint." The term refers to carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas. You can balance out your carbon footprint by buying carbon offsets. Your purchase funds reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through projects such as wind farms, which produce clean energy that displaces energy from fossil fuels. By funding these reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, you balance out, or offset, your own impact by an equivalent amount. Carbon offsets help you take personal responsibility for the environmental consequences of your activities."
Now, am I the only one who sees this whole thing as a huge multi-billion dollar scam? I mean, let's all go out and be irresponsible and keep producing huge amounts of CO2 and then go pay someone to promise that they will reduce their carbon footprint so that our carbon footprint will be neutralized. Come on people! Are you kidding me?
I think I will go out to McDonald's every day for the next 2 months and eat Big Macs and French Fries until I gain 50 extra pounds, but I will pay someone else to promise they will lose the 50 pounds that I gained. Isn't that the exact same logic?
I really think that individuals and businesses would be better off to step up to the plate and reduce their carbon footpronts themselves. Instead of paying to get an unknown company to either plant a tree or not, how about getting the employees to go out and plant trees themselves. How about using more environmentally friendly transportation solutions. Come on, I really do believe we can all do more, but paying someone far away to do what we should do is absolutely ridiculous.
Okay, go ahead and rip me apart. I can take it.
