Qantas says that beginning in September, consumers and businesses will be able to purchase carbon credits to offset their carbon dioxide emissions, Australia’s The Age reports.
The company hasn’t said how much the offsets will increase the price of a ticket. Qantas will cover the charge for its first day of the program’s operation.
The company says that the environmental programs supported by the program have been independently verified and authenticated by the commonwealth government Australian Greenhouse Office.
Delta recently became the first U.S. airline to offer consumers a similar option.
Other airlines, including Air Canada, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Blue, and SAS have similar programs.
British Airways has taken some heat in the past for not putting enough marketing muscle behind its voluntary program.
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Comments
I write about this a lot on my site that covers global warming (http://www.globalwarming-factorfiction.com) and I am typically very skeptical of carbon trading schemes.
P.T. Barnum supposedly said that there was a sucker born every minute. Sometimes, when I read about carbon credits, I am not sure who the sucker is - the person buying, the person selling, or the general public for thinking it is helping!
In order for credits to be feasible and to be more than a “feel good� gesture, we need solid accounting, accountability, and penalties. We have none of that now and this article makes this painfully clear. We cannot allow credits to be used for minor contributions to a project. The credit must go to the cost of reducing the greenhouse gas.
Sean O September 5th, 2007