A Note on Carbon Offsets
Some carbon dioxide emissions are easier to reduce than others. It's easier to switch your lights to CFLs, for example, than it is to skip that yearly flight to visit family back home. That's where carbon offsets come in.

When you buy a carbon offset, you're paying someone else to reduce their emissions because it's not feasible or too expensive to reduce your own. Remember:

• Offsets are no substitute for reducing your direct emissions, when possible.
• Not all offsets are the same. Look for ones that have third-party verification, sold by companies that "open their books," so people understand how the offsets are made.
• Offsets are voluntary — for now. It's likely that we'll see some sort of carbon-trading law in the United States by 2010, under which businesses will have limits on the amount of CO2 they can produce — and will have to buy offsets if they can't meet the limits, or be able to sell them if they are ahead of the curve.

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