Going Green -- or Gifting a Right to Pollute?

April 22, 2007 — -- At the 2007 Academy Awards, where it's traditional for the stars to walk away with bags of expensive swag, A-list attendees received certificates for 100,000 pounds of something called "carbon offsets."

And one night on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," guest Dennis Miller also came out and handed the host some carbon offsets.

Like a designer dress, carbon offsets are an environmental tool that have become suddenly fashionable.

"I think people are very frustrated with the government and business response to climate change," said Tom Arnold, chief environmental officer for Terrapass in San Francisco.

A carbon offset is a way to, theoretically, cancel out or neutralize the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) you create in your daily life. For instance, every gallon of gasoline burned by your car creates 20 pounds of the gas carbon dioxide, which is believed to contribute to global warming.

When you buy carbon offsets from a company that trades in them, that company in turn pays another company to do something that either eliminates CO2, or generates energy in a way that does not create CO2. They might plant trees, or create electricity with solar or wind power.

The idea is to balance every act of carbon creation with something that either eliminates it or at least does not contribute to the problem.

Carbon credits and offsets are a multi-billion-dollar-a-year commodity traded on open markets. Some big companies, from Seattle City Light to Vail Resorts, the Colorado ski area, have declared themselves carbon neutral through credit trading.

Carbon dioxide is created in stunning amounts according to the Web site calculators of several organizations that sell carbon offsets. A four-cylinder car driven 12,000 miles a year creates nearly 11,000 pounds of CO2. A round-trip flight between Los Angeles and San Francisco creates an estimated 400 pounds of CO2 per passenger.

So Charlotte Seligman, who lives in a small house in San Francisco, bought carbon offsets for her home and even gave some out as Christmas gifts.