Carbon offsets like medieval indulgences? “Amen” to that

Or, as another person quoted in this article says, the idea of purchasing a “carbon offset,” to get three trees planted to make up for the carbon dioxide from a plane flight or whatever, smacks of so much of today’s America — long on consumerism, light on sacrifice. (Perhaps that’s part of why Shrub hasn’t called for any “sacrifice” related to the invasion of Iraq.)

Here’s the quote referenced above:

“The worst of the carbon-offset programs resemble the Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences back before the Reformation,” said Denis Hayes, the president of the Bullitt Foundation, an environmental grant-making group. “Instead of reducing their carbon footprints, people take private jets and stretch limos, and then think they can buy an indulgence to forgive their sins.”

“This whole game is badly in need of a modern Martin Luther,” Mr. Hayes added.

The article goes on to note environmentalists are split on the issue. Well, I’m one of the ones who agrees with Hayes.

Plus, there’s the question about just how true-to-life this market is:

Hayes said there were legitimate companies and organizations that help people and companies measure their emissions and find ways to cut them, both directly and indirectly by purchasing certain kinds of credits. But overall, he said, an investment in such credits — given the questions about their reliability — should be looked at more as conventional charity (presuming you check to be sure the projects are real) and less as something like a license to binge on private jet travel.

I agree that it’s like buying wood from a sustainable harvest forest… there’s few such claims that pan out.

Instead, this lets people avoid on insisting that Boeing and Airbus get to work on designing more efficient jetliners, as well as looking at their own lifestyles more carefully.