Earth Equity News

Friends of the Earth Report Exposes Carbon Offsets as a Dangerous Gimmick. Press Release, FoE, September 10, 2009. "The controversial practice of carbon offsetting, via which U.S. polluters send money overseas in exchange for promised -- and often pretend --pollution reductions elsewhere, came under fire today in a new report [A Dangerous Distraction, PDF, 28 pp] published by Friends of the Earth (FoE). Offsets are a centerpiece of the energy bill that passed the House of Representatives in June, and they may be included in soon-to-be-introduced legislation in the Senate. The report explains how offsets work and concludes that they are a flawed approach to combating global warming. 'It is suicide to base our future on offsets. Offsets provide the illusion of taking action to stop global warming when in fact they often allow emissions to rise,' said Michael Despines of FoE, one of the authors of the report. 'People need to realize how dangerous offsets can be -- they provide a false sense of security because they often do not deliver as promised'... 'The offsets in the bill that recently passed the House could allow the United States to keep increasing emissions of heat-trapping gases until 2029, even though scientists say we need to reduce emissions now,' said Karen Orenstein, a climate finance campaigner at FoE." Watch FoE's video: A Dangerous Distraction, 3:38 min.