5 ms·

Carbon offsets is like a doctor telling a grossly obese patient to mitigate the problem with periodic fat removal. This gives the patient a false hope that he d

by akomtu 3y ago

Carbon offsets is like a doctor telling a grossly obese patient to mitigate the problem with periodic fat removal. This gives the patient a false hope that he doesn't need to completely change how he lives.

nozzlegear 3y ago
Correct me if I'm wrong, but carbon offsets/removals are not the only thing that we (the human race) are trying. In your analogy, the patient has also been changing their diet and exercising more by electrifying transportation and switching to renewable sources of energy. Whether it's too little, too late is another matter.
- akomtu 3y ago
  The patient has switched to an electric toothbrush, but continues to absorb 3 fridges of food every day, almost 1.5x more since he started talking to the doctor.
felix318 3y ago
Merits and criticisms aside, carbon offset has a striking semblance with the sale of indulgences practiced by the Catholic church in the middle ages. Some patterns of thought seem ingrained in us.
- gruez 3y ago
  The difference is that indulgences goes to some random organization that doesn't use it in a way that offsets/mitigates the damage (eg. you doing adultery and then paying the church $$$ doesn't result in the adultery being reversed), whereas carbon removal actually reverses the damage (at least in theory). In that sense I see it as closer to cleaning up your own mess.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
hedora 3y ago
It’s more like telling them to exercise to burn off the fat. That will be extremely hard at first, since they are probably starting from zero. However, as they get fitter, they will be able to burn more calories per day via exercise. Of course, diet + exercise is much better than just one or the other. We have to remove ~ 25% of the carbon currently in the atmosphere, or we’re screwed. We definitely can’t reach that goal without carbon capture. We almost certainly can’t reach it without cutting emissions by >> 90%.
Sankozi 3y ago
But these are not carbon offsets. This is carbon removal and storage for 100+ years according to https://www.cdr.fyi/methodology https://www.cdr.fyi/methodology
- rcMgD2BwE72F 3y ago
  Is 100 years long given the stakes? Why not put a guarantees in thousands of years?

by akomtu 3y ago

nozzlegear 3y ago

Correct me if I'm wrong, but carbon offsets/removals are not the only thing that we (the human race) are trying. In your analogy, the patient has also been changing their diet and exercising more by electrifying transportation and switching to renewable sources of energy. Whether it's too little, too late is another matter.

akomtu 3y ago
The patient has switched to an electric toothbrush, but continues to absorb 3 fridges of food every day, almost 1.5x more since he started talking to the doctor.

felix318 3y ago

Merits and criticisms aside, carbon offset has a striking semblance with the sale of indulgences practiced by the Catholic church in the middle ages. Some patterns of thought seem ingrained in us.

gruez 3y ago
The difference is that indulgences goes to some random organization that doesn't use it in a way that offsets/mitigates the damage (eg. you doing adultery and then paying the church $$$ doesn't result in the adultery being reversed), whereas carbon removal actually reverses the damage (at least in theory). In that sense I see it as closer to cleaning up your own mess.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

hedora 3y ago

It’s more like telling them to exercise to burn off the fat. That will be extremely hard at first, since they are probably starting from zero. However, as they get fitter, they will be able to burn more calories per day via exercise. Of course, diet + exercise is much better than just one or the other. We have to remove ~ 25% of the carbon currently in the atmosphere, or we’re screwed. We definitely can’t reach that goal without carbon capture. We almost certainly can’t reach it without cutting emissions by >> 90%.

Sankozi 3y ago

But these are not carbon offsets. This is carbon removal and storage for 100+ years according to https://www.cdr.fyi/methodology https://www.cdr.fyi/methodology

rcMgD2BwE72F 3y ago
Is 100 years long given the stakes? Why not put a guarantees in thousands of years?