carbon offsets

Carbon offsets are meant to reward companies for cutting their emission of greenhouse gases. But environmentalists claim that some companies are producing extra emissions in order to get paid for destroying it. A U.N. board has halted credits for the projects in question while it investigates.

As the world's leaders converge for the global climate summit, the clouds over what had been deemed a fairly useless exercise in geopolitical stagecraft appear to be lifting. Most dramatic is a proposal that rich nations provide a $100 billion per year to help poorer nations cope with emission cuts.

Earlier this week I wrote about a program which lets you give gift a clean carbon slate to your graduate by purchasing carbon offsets. After sharing this intriguing if not practical gift with some friends and relatives I found that not everyone knew what a carbon offset is. Rather than repeat...