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Question about offsetting carbon for my flight to Japan (feeling guilty!).
What's the best way to make a real difference?
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drewg627mo ago
Use that guilt, @elliot_bailey, to push for cleaner fuels instead.
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robins837mo ago
My uncle bought offsets for years before finding out they mostly funded old wind farms.
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elliot_bailey7mo ago
Feeling guilty about one flight might be overthinking it. From what I've seen, carbon offset money often goes to projects that are hard to track or don't last. Like, a forest saved today could burn down next year, so the benefit is shaky. I'd take the guilt with a grain of salt and focus on bigger changes in daily life instead.
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the_tyler7mo ago
Isn't the whole tracking system for offsets pretty broken? I read a deep dive last year about how lots of the money just covers projects that were already going to happen anyway. Yeah @elliot_bailey, that's exactly it, the benefit is totally shaky because you can't guarantee it's new or permanent. It feels like paying for a clean conscience without the clean air part. So the guilt about one flight is understandable, but maybe misdirected. Pushing for real systemic change seems like a better use of that mental energy.
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