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Is carbon offsets a good idea? - Coggle Diagram
Is carbon offsets a good idea?
What is carbon offsets?
It is an idea that you can compensate for the fossil fuels that you've pumped into the atmosphere often with little bit of money.
Is it really possible to buy our carbon footprint, and "undo" the environmental damage that we caused?
Or is this idea just a scam?
Sheryl Sturges
The inventor of the idea of carbon offsets
Works for a company that builds coal-fired power plants
Looked for a way to offset the amount of CO2 her plant was generating, and found a solution.
Came up with an idea to plant enough trees that can offset the amount of CO2 her plant was to emit in its 40-year lifetime.
Found a program to work with to realize her idea. The program was called "CARE" and they were helping out struggling farmers in Guatemala.
However, there are problems
The farmers were not necessarily cooperative
Sheryl's idea ended up being a failure. The total amount of offset ended up just 10% of what was originally expected.
Unfair distribution of the money given to the farmars
Food shortage and conflicts over land use
How does it affect the behavior of the polluters?
Does this idea allow them to keep polluting as long as they know they can offset their emissions?
Professor Hannah Wittman thinks the idea only gives companies an excuse not to change their behavior.
*How can we balance it out with economic growth?
*How can we utilize the corporate image to reduce the emissions?
According to Professor Hannah Wittman, the carbon that is offset every year is only 1% of the total emissions.
Carbon tax is a better way to deal with this problem?
*Will it hinder the economic growth?
*How do we use the tax to improve the enviorment?