What are CO₂ offsets?

Offset – n. 1. something that counterbalances; a compensating equivalent.

CO₂ offsetting is when one someone pays someone else to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide on his or her behalf.  People and businesses who want to reduce their emissions (or reduce them more than they have already), but find it too expensive or difficult to do so, can buy CO₂ offsets to compensate for the emissions they can’t avoid.  Offsetting reduces the cost of combating global warming by giving those for whom it is cheapest and easiest to cut emissions most incentive to do so.  For example, it would be really expensive for most of us to totally stop driving – we couldn’t get to our jobs.  Instead of not driving, we can drive less and then make up for our driving emissions by helping finance things like wind farms that reduce emissions from power plants.

NativeEnergy helps finance construction of new sources of clean and renewable electricity.  Their electricity reduces the amount of electricity generated by fossil fuel-powered generators – reducing emissions of CO₂ for you.   Like RECs, CO₂ offsets are a tradable commodity.  CO₂ offsets are comprised of the contract right to claim as your own a certain amount of CO₂ emissions reductions created by someone else through an action that is beyond business as usual.  Offsets can be created by renewable energy projects, energy efficiency, and land use and agriculture-based projects, like methane abatement.  Selling offsets is a way for some renewable energy projects to become financially viable, so they can get financed and built, and so reduce CO₂ emissions. Buying offsets is a way for you to compensate for the CO₂ pollution you create by driving, flying, heating your home or using electricity. Offsetting isn’t an excuse to pollute, though.  It’s a way to take responsibility for pollution we can’t avoid.  Please reduce your energy use as much as you can, and then offset the climate impacts of the energy use you can’t avoid.