[Is UPS making money in the climate swindle business?]

Global shipping company UPS has announced the extension of its carbon neutral service to 35 countries and territories.

Companies in the US, Asia and Europe, including the UK, will now be able to chose to pay a small fee to offset the carbon emissions produced by their shipment.

The cost of the service will varying depending on the country, however in the US the price ranges from .05 for a ground delivery to .20 for an air package to .75 for an international shipment. [Note that 75 cents would buy 7.5 tons of carbon offsets at the Chicago Climate Exchange] Emissions are calculated using current and historic operational data.

When the project was initially launched in the US in 2009, UPS purchased its offsets from the Garcia River Forest Climate Action Project. The company has now said it will be looking to expand the projects it works with in the future.

Flashback: Forests break green ground by selling offsets

The Garcia River forest was purchased four years ago by the Conservation Fund and the Nature Conservancy, with some financial help from the state. The Van Eck forest, meanwhile, is privately owned but managed by the Pacific Forest Trust.

Both Garcia River and Van Eck are working forests - meaning that, unlike a state or national park, they are being logged on a regular basis.

If the Nature Conservancy is selling these fuzzy offsets, aren't they basically saying "See that curtain over there?  Pay us some money, and trust us, we'll do something back there that will prevent bad weather"?