Showerthought: I thought buying carbon offsets was a scam until I checked the math

My neighbor in Seattle spent $150 on offsets for his family's flights last year and I figured it was just guilt money. Then I looked up how the programs fund actual methane capture projects, and the numbers checked out per ton of CO2. Has anyone else changed their mind about a climate action after digging into the details?

3 comments

3 Comments

ray_williams1mo ago

Yeah it's wild how much actual science gets buried under all the marketing fluff. I dug into the same rabbit hole last year and the methane capture projects are legitimately doing the work.

wade2501mo ago

Wait, are you telling me those carbon offset things actually work? I always brushed them off too.

the_piper1mo ago

Those methane capture projects specifically target landfill gas which is way more potent than CO2. @ray_williams you're right that the science holds up once you get past the marketing fluff.