Carbon offsets, words that once did not go with each other, have become the business world's equivalent of a red ribbon. It sends all the right messages without requiring much to be done.
Don't get me wrong; it's better than nothing. It allows a user to begin to calculate his/her/its carbon footprint and do something about it. But unfortunately, that's where it ends for most companies. It becomes another tax or cost of doing business. Often it's cheaper than actually affecting long-term changes, so do the math.
Even the mechanism of trading the credits is flawed. The largest engine of offsets, the Chicago Carbon Exchange, is run like any other mercantile. There are a certain number of credits available, and their scarcity then determines the price. SInce the Exchange's inception earlier this decade, prices have risen to approximately $3 per credit. This is ridiculous, in that the credits become effectively a commodity instead of a tool of social change, which should be their ultimate goal. The sanitized transaction of mouse clicks and credit cards allows someone to divorce himself from the act of offsetting, to remove it to where it is yet another payment for indulgences.
BidForGreen will soon be announcing our vision for carbon credits: One that includes matching those dollars with long-term projects which do more than just plant a few trees. We want to change lives and communities. We want to use carbon credits to close the gap that continues to grow between rich places and poor, and we hope to do it with rich people money. Stay tuned; we think you will find it more satisfying than the sterile status quo.
Dale Wiley