FTC Worries About Improper Use Of Carbon-Offset Money

New York TImes:

Corporations and shoppers in the United States spent more than $54 million last year on carbon offset credits toward tree planting, wind farms, solar plants and other projects to balance the emissions created by, say, using a laptop computer or flying on a jet.

A Volkswagen program, offered in conjunction with Carbonfund.org, an intermediary, has sought to energize car sales.

But where exactly is that money going?

The Federal Trade Commission, which regulates advertising claims, raised the question Tuesday in its first hearing in a series on green marketing, this one focusing on carbon offsets.

As more companies use offset programs to create an environmental halo over their products, the commission said it was growing increasingly concerned that some green marketing assertions were not substantiated. Environmentalists have a word for such misleading advertising: "greenwashing."

Read the whole story: New York TImes

Comments

[jackpinesavage]

01:49 PM on 01/09/2008

Don't worry, i'm not one of those no human component trolls...

I do have a problem with this offset scheme though; not that we shouldn't be planting trees and investing in renewable energy. Hell, we should have been doing that when this country was flush back in the 90's.

To me, the idea that you can clear your conscience by purchasing an offset seems like the ultimate greenwash. "Look, i really can't get by without a weekend getaway on my private jet to my fourth home...but i'm going to buy some trees to be planted in Africa to make myself feel better. Oh, and by the way, you should really only be using one square of toilet paper per wipe; we all have to pitch in to save the planet."

[atlantajoe]

12:11 PM on 01/09/2008

This money is safe in the hands of gov't, don't worry. They have never lost a cent.

[ZingoBonMot]

11:44 AM on 01/09/2008

You're right, getoffmeds. My keyboard canary is wheezing already. METHANE ALERT!

On a more serious note, what agency will be charged with tracking and/or monitoring this trade-off system, the EPA? Or will this mean yet ANOTHER government agency will have to be built from the ground up? The way in which carbon offsets are supposed to work hasn't been explained very well in the media. But, hey, what's new?

[getoffmedz]

09:10 AM on 01/09/2008

Here come the "No human-generated climate change trolls" the stench of denial on their breaths dribbling foul saliva unto their keyboards.

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