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 program was recorded and assembled as individual interviews between Greg Dalton and his guests starting in mid July of 2019.
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Kahlil Baker
Executive Director, Taking Root
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Derik Broekhoff
Senior Scientist, Stockholm Environmental Institute
![](https://cdn.commonwealthclub.org/s3fs-public/default_images/Speaker%20%28No%20Photo%29%20V1.png)
Zoe Cina-Sklar
Climate Justice Campaigner, Amazon Watch
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Barbara Haya
Research Fellow, Center for Environmental Public Policy
![](https://cdn.commonwealthclub.org/s3fs-public/default_images/Speaker%20%28No%20Photo%29%20V1.png)
Pauline Nantongo Kalunda
Executive Director, Ecotrust Uganda
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Pennie Opal Plant
Owner, Gathering Tribes
![](https://cdn.commonwealthclub.org/s3fs-public/default_images/Speaker%20%28No%20Photo%29%20V1.png)
Greg Dalton
Founder and Host, Climate One