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

Pennsylvania’s Petrochemical ‘Renaissance’ Hasn’t Panned Out

BySarah Hofmann

onJul 9, 2026 @ 11:22 PDT

More than a decade after Shell announced its Beaver County complex, new reports show the oil giant’s promised economic revival failed, while pollution concerns now shape debates over proposed data centers.

Northern Ireland Turned Into 'Sacrifice Zone’ to Feed UK’s Appetite for Meat, New Report Finds

ByShauna Corr

onJul 8, 2026 @ 22:00 PDT

Nearly two thirds of country’s pig and poultry farms leach polluting manure into lough that supplies half the region's drinking water, according to latest research.

Series: Pigs, Poultry, and Pollution: Investigating Intensive Agriculture

Series: Investigating Intensive Livestock Pollution

us/Colorado Cut $11.4 Million in Penalties for Oil Firms Submitting Fake Cleanup Data

BySarah Hofmann

onJul 7, 2026 @ 11:29 PDT

Residents, activists, and a state commissioner critiqued the deals, approved under the top oil regulator, who is stepping down following a DeSmog investigation.