Fliers Ease Carbon Guilt Via Donations

San Fran airport to offer pollution offsets at new kiosks

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 24, 2008 5:51 PM CST

(Newser) – Guilty about the carbon footprint of your frequent flights? Have a few bucks to spare and time to kill at San Francisco's airport? The firm 3Degrees is banking on such a combination as it prepares to roll out the nation's first fleet of kiosks offering carbon offsets. No one is sure whether the idea will fly, reports the Chronicle.

The concept is simple: go to a kiosk, type in your destination, and find out how much you'd need to donate to cancel out your flight's emissions. The company won't say yet what the rate will be, but the numbers suggest a 2-hour flight might run about $4. That money then gets invested in energy-efficiency or sustainability projects.

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The flight paths of arrivals, in green, and departures, in red, into and out of San Francisco International Airport. In the spring, travelers will be able to offset their carbon footprints. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Those who feel guilty about their air travel polluting the Bay Area air can soon make monetary amends at SFO. Here, the afternoon sun filters through redwoods at the Muir Woods National Monument. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

In this 2006 file photo, a United Airlines plane leaves San Francisco International Airport. Soon, those flying out of SFO will be able to purchase carbon offsets. (AP Photo)

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While the carbon offsets purchased at kiosks can't be seen or touched, they are an actual product with a specific environmental claim whose ownership is transferred at the time of purchase. - Krista Canellakis, a spokeswoman for the company offering offsets

Hopefully, it will be successful. But if we just have a lot of people stop and read the information and think about it, that's something we've accomplished. - Steve McDougal, executive vice president for 3Degrees

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Fliers Ease Carbon Guilt Via Donations