The truth about 'going' carbon neutral
Selling carbon offsets is big business for a small group of profit orientated companies like Climate Care and the Carbon Neutral company. (In 2006 Radio Taxi paid £120,000 to a carbon offset company so that Radio Taxi could declare itself 'carbon neutral'.)
It is claimed that you are able to offset the carbon dioxide produced by your trip to New York or a friend's wedding by purchasing trees or a stake in a renewable energy project. The idea being that the trees or new windmills will remove at least the same amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as is caused by your last trip.
Hence, if you buy enough offsets, you are apparently able to completely neutralise the full environmental impact of taking the plane to New York. The offset companies claim that your activity has become 'carbon neutral', which - despite the fact that planting lots of trees is a really good thing - is difficult to accept as true.
And being carbon neutral is good for the planet. It is suggested that as long as you continue to purchase carbon offsets, you can effectively maintain your energy hungry lifestyle because your activities have been offset and therefore have no direct impact global warming and climate change. Sounds too good to be true?
carbon-info.org
How you can help
What the unethical carbon offset companies claim
What is the problem with 'going' carbon neutral?
The short answer is 'quite a lot'. The scientific evidence paints a very different picture. A picture that makes the carbon neutral claim seem little more than clever marketing.
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