Fun with carbon rip-offsets

Note that carbon swindle offsets currently sell for a nickel per metric ton in Chicago.

CCX CFI End of Day Summary

$0.05

Question 1: Why is the Chicago Field Museum still charging you for 20 metric tons of emissions to offset your travel to their Museum? 

Planning Your Visit to The Field Museum

Now when you visit The Field Museum you can purchase a credit for $1 and offset the impact that your travel to the Museum has on global warming.

Question 2: If CO2 offsets cost a nickel, why is TerraPass charging about 240 times that figure per ton?

Frequently asked questions | TerraPass: Fight global warming, promote alternative energy

TerraPass carbon offsets cost $5.95 per 1,000 lbs of carbon reductions. This price is the same across all of our products. Some products may carry an additional charge to cover the accompanying gift.

Our offset prices are determined by the underlying cost of the carbon reduction projects we fund.

Question 3:  Does UPS really believe that shipping just one package causes as much as four tons of CO2 emissions?

UPS Offers Shippers “Green” Option to Offset Carbon Dioxide | The CarbonNeutral Company

The per-package price for the optional service is $0.05 for UPS Ground services and $0.20 for UPS Next Day Air®, UPS 2nd Day Air® and UPS 3 Day Select® services. Based on customer feedback, a flat fee is used to make it simple and convenient for those wishing to participate. The price includes the cost of calculation, administrative costs associated with the service and the cost of the offsets.

Question 4: Why did Nancy Pelosi's House blow $89K of our money on a commodity that very quickly plunged in value by a factor of about 60?

 2008: Value of U.S. House's Carbon Offsets Is Murky

In November, the Democratic-led House spent about $89,000 on so-called carbon offsets. This purchase was supposed to cancel out greenhouse-gas emissions from House buildings -- including half of the U.S. Capitol -- by triggering an equal reduction in emissions elsewhere.
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The House bought its offsets through the Chicago Climate Exchange, a five-year-old commodities market where greenhouse-gas credits are traded like pork bellies.
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The offset purchase was part of a Green the Capitol initiative, begun after Democrats took over last year. House leaders bought compact fluorescent light bulbs to save energy and ordered the Capitol Power Plant to burn natural gas instead of dirtier coal. For emissions they couldn't avoid, they bought offsets: 30,000 metric tons at about $2.97 per metric ton.