How to Get Rich By Scamming the Climate

onJan 21, 2008 @ 07:01 PST

A cartoon in The New York Times brilliantly captured the mentality behind the latest green trend. It showed a man kneeling at the confessional praying, “Forgive me, but I have SUV‘d.”

The minister takes the proffered bag of money and replies:

Go thy way, thy sins are offset. You too can be forgiven of your carbon emitting sins and achieve the exalted status of being ‘carbon neutral’ without trading in your SUV or cancelling that overseas vacation.”

Here’s a collection of articles we’ve written on the issue carbon offsets:

Enron-Type Accounting Used to Calculate “Carbon Offsets”

Romm on trees and carbon offsets

The Latest in Offsets: Homelessness

Carbon Trading: “Bad for the South, Bad for the North, Bad for the Climate”

Monbiot: Methane Findings Highlight the Scam of Carbon Trading

By Ross Gelbspan

Analysis

uk/The Elections that Turned Climate into a Defining Political Fault Line

ByRupert Read

onMay 12, 2026 @ 03:07 PDT

Reform and Green victories set the stage for big climate battles in the years ahead.

Analysis

In Louisiana, Data Center Hype Faces AI Regulation and Community Resistance

ByNed Randolph

onMay 8, 2026 @ 08:15 PDT

With Meta's new Manhattan-sized project slated for the state, lawmakers are pushing new restrictions on artificial intelligence even as the Trump administration threatens to withhold broadband funding in response.