Letter: Offsetting can still be done, but it costs a lot (1)

From Pete Drake, Penmon, Anglesey, UK

Graham Lawton can count me as a staunch fan. I agree with him that it is self-deception to imagine that he offset much, if anything, of his flight-related carbon dioxide by crossing a greenwashing scheme with a tiny piece of silver. This doesn’t mean it is impossible (11 May, p 22).

I fly perhaps once a year, for family reasons, and pay for my carbon to be removed via biochar. This costs a lot, almost exactly the same as my long-haul airline ticket. It also comes with reliable, accredited certification.

If we, the affluent-enough-to-go-on-CO₂-belching-jollies, actually cleared up our pollution, the planet would be back several decades into the last century, pollution-wise, and mother nature would have hope and a reasonable chance.