Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced the launch of its list, called Carbon Offset List, of approved carbon offsets on September 10. EDF says it created the list to fill the need for unified standards in the rapidly growing market for offsets. It touts the list as the "first of its kind project-based list."

In compiling the list of eleven projects, EDF used an independent committee of experts to pre-screen each project. It was a "rigorous review process" that focused on "environmental integrity and a verifiable approach to combating climate change."

According to an EDF press release, offsets allow those who purchase them to offset greenhouse gases "produced from their own activities by funding projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere (GHG)." The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that almost one-third of GHG reductions needed could be met by offsets.

Except for a truck stop electrification project, all of the projects on EDF's list are landfill projects. The reason, according to EDF, is that landfill projects have a "longer track record." In compiling the list, they were looking for verifiable proof of greenhouse gas reductions. Offsets occur indirectly from projects that are grid connected (wind and solar). Landfill projects capture methane, a gas that has a warming effect 23 times greater than carbon.

EDF used the following offset criteria:

• Direct emissions reduction
• Beyond business as usual
• Measured using reliable methods
• Permanent
• Serialized and tracked: make sure projects not sold twice
• Verified by independent third party

Would landfill projects occur without offsets?

Critics charge that landfill projects would occur without the funds from offsets. As a Business Week article put it, "The methane system was launched long before any promise of carbon-offset sales." The particular project they site did not make the EDF list.

The Greater Lebanon landfill in Lebanon, Pennsylvania did make the list, however. In March the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) Secretary, Kathleen A. McGinty congratulated the landfill for its methane capture program. McGinty said that the DEP now requires that methane "be put to work to light our homes and provide heat for factories." In other words, the project would have occurred without offset funds.

Another project on the list, the Newton-McDonald Landfill Gas Capture Project in Neosho, Missouri is a landfill that stopped collecting garbage in 1997. According to the company that sells offsets which benefit the Newton-McDonald landfill, 3Degrees, without money from the sale of offsets, the project would not be in operation.

"Prior to the purchase and restart of the landfill gas collection system, there were no funds available to maintain the closed landfill. Money from emission reduction sales has provided the project owner with the ability to maintain the grounds and monitor for proper landfill settling."

Modern day indulgences?

Environmental journalist, George Monbiot compares offsets to medieval indulgences, charging that they serve to offset guilt. "Just as in the 15^th and 16^th centuries you could sleep with your sister, kill and lie without fear of eternal damnation, today you can leave your windows open while the heating is on, drive and fly without endangering the climate, as long as you give your ducats to the companies selling indulgences." (Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning, George Monbiot)

Monbiot's main objection to carbon offsets is that EVERYONE will have to reduce their GHG emissions in order to mitigate climate change.

The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research released a report (pdf) in 2007 about CDMs. The report stated that the CDM has fallen short of contributing to sustainable development and instead has contributed to the uneven geographical distribution of projects and dominance in certain sectors.

A Tufts University report contends that by buying offsets, "you forgo reducing your own emissions (i.e. you still fly) but in exchange you pay someone to reduce their emissions in your stead."

Further Reading:

• Biking Breaks = Offsetting Carbon Emissions?
• Carbon Trade-off - How the Carbon Market in Asia isn't Working
• Emissions Trading - In-Depth
• Carbon Offsets - a Discredited Strategy
• Offsetting Democracy
• Hot Air and Snake Oil: Carbon Offset Upsets