Are carbon offsets really helpful in reducing the harm we as people do on the environment? I have been buying alot of these things in my quest to be a better person. I travel so much and I don't see any better way.

Does the money I spend really go to research and planting trees or is it just another person's way of getting rich off trends and people's guilt?

I used to buy those when my work was having me fly every week. I felt guilty to some degree. I wasn't paying a dime, I was flying across the country and I felt dirty to some degree.

I don't know if the money always goes where they say it does. I think people get paid to maintain the sites and to do the paperwork, but most of them have some oversight that they talk about to ensure the money is used appropriately. I always used terrapass and I felt ok about it.

I may sound like an idiot for asking this, but I am sort of new to all of this and to some degree I want to learn this stuff without having to ask my girlfriend. For once, I want to know something without asking her about this and that green concept.

So what is a carbon offset?

I myself don't like the idea of a carbon offset. Its kind of like the indulgences sold by the Catholic Church. It should not forgive your indiscretions against the environment. A carbon offset is not a free pass to harm the environment.

I think too many people look at carbon offsets as a means to reduce their guilt. I would argue that its a lazy way to claim you care. Only through changing behaviors and attitudes will we change the world.

greennewbie, A carbon offset is characterized by the payment of a given amount supposedly correlated to the amount of carbon emissions one might cause while doing a certain activity. For example, flying on a plane, driving a certain distance or owning certain appliances. This money is then used to fund research, create new programs or fund environmental rehab and activism.

So the answer is not really???? What I am reading is that the carbon offset does help the environment in an indirect way but really has little impact on changing behaviors which are the root of the problem.

I think you are getting it. I am not saying that the carbon offset has no place in the green movement, but it should be a stop gap and not the cruxt of the plan to reduce emissions and mitigate global warming.

So I have been reading about carbon cap and trade. Is that any better? I know its not the consumer end of the spectrum, but I just want to understand what all this lingo is surrounding carbon and reducing the carbon emissions that each of us and commerce and industry are responsible for.