Carbon Offset 

An act of pretending to care about the environment. The attempt to justify ones use of greenhouse gas emissions. A false hope for solving global warming. The act of buying ‘carbon credits’ from a third-party company that says it will offset the carbon emissions the purchaser produces. The problem with carbon offsetting is it allows companies to continue to produce harmful greenhouse gasses while their offset has done little or nothing to counter global warming. A recent Financial Times article found that many offset companies and their 'carbon credits' were of either uncertain value or were completely worthless. Global warming cannot be solved by just planting more trees, a common way to attempt to offset ones emissions. If global warming could be solved by just planting trees, environmentalists would be planting night and day. A certain well known ex-vice-pres 'eco-maniac' very interestingly endorses the practice of carbon offsetting. The industry of carbon offsetting is expected to double by 2010.

A better solution to solve global warming is to reduce total emissions as much a possible.

Source: google carbon offset and financial times

Gore: google al gore and carbon offset

Journalist: Environmentalists say your company is going to produce a 3% increase in greenhouse gas emissions on earth.

Company CEO: That is indeed super true, but it's totally okay because we carbon offset. We bought a shit-ton of carbon credits, so we are carbon neutral, duuuude!

Carbon Offset by Truth Inconvenient August 30, 2007

carbon footprint offset 

A boondoggle involving polluting one geographical location with excessive use of carbon-based fuel while paying to promote clean energy in another geographical location, and claiming one offsets the other, thus yielding neutral pollution.

Al Gore rationalizes his profligate use of $30,000/year in electricity and natural gas at his home in Nashville by partially funding clean energy production in other areas, terming this a "carbon footprint offset". It is tantamount to dumping garbage on the streets of Nashville and "offsetting" it by paying for street cleanup in Seattle.

carbon footprint offset by Mondo Fuego March 2, 2007