While reducing energy use is the best way to cut carbon emissions and is a key factor in the ongoing Copenhagen climate summit this week, the idea of buying credits to offset carbon-causing energy also is gaining steam.
Credits, or offsets, are offered both to produce noncarbon electricity from wind and to store carbon in growing forests that landowners agree to leave standing to soak up carbon.
The idea of buying and trading credits for carbon is expected to play a major role in the developing U.S. plan to cut the nation's carbon emissions. Carbon dioxide is the most common human-made greenhouse gas that scientists say is causing an unnatural warming of the Earth's atmosphere.
