Snake Oil Salesmen Find New Carbon Offset Market

File this story in your "People are basically stupid" folder. The so-called "eco-conscious" are paying a new scam industry to offset their carbon output by allegedly investing in alternative fuels, or purchasing carbon credits. Some green groups oppose the emerging industry because "they are just a way to assuage consumer guilt and do little to combat climate change." More militant greens don't like it because the behavior modification protocols aren't being encouraged: "At worst, they can encourage consumption and prevent people from making carbon-cutting lifestyle changes, such as driving less, taking public transit and using less electricity."

Many scientists have shown that individual efforts at climate change control by limiting carbon output are useless. Others have shown that shutting down the economies of G-8 countries forever also won't affect global warming, but that just highlights the audacious stupidity of carbon-trading markets and the development of alternative fuels solely for the chance to reverse climate change. If this new carbon offset market really wants to take off, they should make infomercials that air alongside those herbal supplement ads during late night cable television programming. That's what their intended demographic is watching anyway.