Do Carbon Credits INCREASE Emissions?

I agree with Cap & Trade carbon credits for large industries. But carbon credits for individuals may actually INCREASE greenhouse gas emissions!

In a Cap & Trade system, the total number of credits in the system are limited, with  credits removed year after year. Industry has no choice but to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions or pay an ever increasing price. That’s the theory anyway.

For individuals, the process is voluntary. Mr. and Mrs. Smith use a Carbon Footprint Calculator and determine how big their carbon footprint really is. They then decide to reduce their footprint on the planet by purchasing “carbon credits”. Let’s say Mr. and Mrs. Smith are upper class American citizens and have an carbon footprint of 30 tons per year each, not far off the average for an upper class American citizen.  They go online and purchase carbon credits for 20 tons each, and feel great having reduced their personal impact on planet earth, down to a mere 10 tons each (at least it’s closer to the 2 tons per person that the earth can handle). Next year they do the same, and the next, and the next.

With this type of personal carbon credit, people’s behaviours will never change. They will continue to spew greenhouse gas into the air, year after year. Then, sometime in the future, they’ll lose interest and stop purchasing carbon credits. People should face-up to the environmental impact they are creating, not hide behind “feel-good” credits. Take action.

 

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Filed under: Climate Change