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Carbon Offsets: Privileged Pollution?
Carbon offsets: They’ve been called everything from a band-aid solution to “the best thing a consumer can do right now.” A new service even offers customers a monthly subscription to offset their carbon footprint.
Meanwhile, offset providers are scrutinized for transparency, and purchasers are criticized for using them as a get-out-of-jail-free card. In the race to bring carbon emissions to zero, are offsets a legitimate tool—or a scam to allow heavy emitters a way out of taking real action? What impact does purchasing offsets have on poorer communities?
This was an audio-only program featuring multiple interviews that were conducted separately.
The Commonwealth Club of California
595 Market St.
San Francisco, 94102
United States
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Kahlil Baker
Executive Director, Taking Root
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Derik Broekhoff
Senior Scientist, Stockholm Environmental Institute
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Zoe Cina-Sklar
Climate Justice Campaigner, Amazon Watch
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Barbara Haya
Research Fellow, Center for Environmental Public Policy
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Pauline Nantongo Kalunda
Executive Director, Ecotrust Uganda
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Pennie Opal Plant
Owner, Gathering Tribes
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Greg Dalton
Founder and Host, Climate One