How to Get Rich By Scamming the Climate

onJan 21, 2008 @ 07:01 PST

A cartoon in The New York Times brilliantly captured the mentality behind the latest green trend. It showed a man kneeling at the confessional praying, “Forgive me, but I have SUV‘d.”

The minister takes the proffered bag of money and replies:

Go thy way, thy sins are offset. You too can be forgiven of your carbon emitting sins and achieve the exalted status of being ‘carbon neutral’ without trading in your SUV or cancelling that overseas vacation.”

Here’s a collection of articles we’ve written on the issue carbon offsets:

Enron-Type Accounting Used to Calculate “Carbon Offsets”

Romm on trees and carbon offsets

The Latest in Offsets: Homelessness

Carbon Trading: “Bad for the South, Bad for the North, Bad for the Climate”

Monbiot: Methane Findings Highlight the Scam of Carbon Trading

By Ross Gelbspan

Q&A: This Comedy Series Is Taking Aim at Big Oil’s PR Machine

ByEllen Ormesher

onSep 14, 2026 @ 11:01 PDT

SLICK is a funny yet cutting satire of how the ad industry contributes to the climate crisis.

Series: Holding the Advertising and Public Relations Industry Accountable for Greenwash and Climate Misinformation

Series: Advertising & PR Industry

Analysis

Majority of Planned Alberta Data Centre Projects Could be Under Foreign Control

ByMitch Anderson

onSep 14, 2026 @ 07:05 PDT

DeSmog analysis finds less than one third of planned projects could have full Canadian control over data.

Carbon Capture Is Booming. So Is the Push to Shift Oversight to States

BySarah Hofmann

onSep 11, 2026 @ 10:36 PDT

As hundreds of CO2 storage wells move toward development, the EPA is handing more regulatory authority to states — despite concerns about safety and long-term liability.