don't think of it as offsetting a polluter, think of it as charging a polluter. requiring the purchase of offsets equal to the amount of pollution is essential

don't think of it as offsetting a polluter, think of it as charging a polluter. requiring the purchase of offsets equal to the amount of pollution is essentially a tax on pollution. assuming it's fairly priced, it should create a market for non-polluting alternatives to the pollution-causers and lead to the eventual decline of pollution-causing processes as they're replaced with alternatives that don't require offsetting.