Second, I have my doubt that the emission offset is much more than a giant scam. No matter if you pay or not, you’re still creating the same amount of emissions. As for the CO2 exchange – who sets the cap on it? What happens if a company can’t get enough credits? Since it’s all voluntary, at worst you opt out. Investing the money in green energy is a slightly better choice – but again, I’d rather invest directly than through an intermediary that is no doubt taking its own cut. (The fact that none of the alternatives you listed tells me what their cut is is not counting in their favor).

So, basically, until I know more about this offset system, I’ll invest in companies that work on green energy. I feel much better about that, and I’ll get a stake in green energy in return.

FYI, Better World Club (the Auto Club Alternative) offers this, and also does something similar automagically if you book travel through them . . .

Geez, Groby — Really don’t know how you got to the emissions offsets as “giant scam” theory — Drive Neutral’s run by grad students of Presidio, an affiliate of Alliant International, which is a non-profit university. TerraPass clearly states in their FAQ that their aiming for a cut of 10%. NativeEnergy’s a privately held Native American energy company, in which the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy holds a majority stake.

All this info is avaliable on their websites. And your questions about how the CO2 caps are set and how the program works in general is also detailed on the Chicago Climate Exchange website. An interesting read — One that I’d recommend before jumping to conclusions. But regardless, I think it’s great you’re investing in green energy, however you go about it :)

And Roger, gone green — Thanks for the info on Better World! I’ve been a member for a few years, but because I have my membership on autorenew, I hadn’t logged on to the site for a while and didn’t know they’d added all this cool new stuff –

Your post about TerraPass still had a positive side effect – since I wasn’t convinced about the programs, but got info about the amount of CO2 I’m creating, I decided to switch to using the bus for my commute. Costs less than a TerraPass, and has actual emissions reduction ;)

How’s the commute for you so far? Mine’s been rather unreliable — Sometimes buses just don’t show up :( Hoping that’ll change once we get more commuters out there –