From Ben Craven, Edinburgh, UK
Even if we ignore the various technical doubts about carbon offsetting, whether offsetting a flight makes flying acceptable depends upon what activity you think of as coming first (11 May, p 22).
The usual view is that the climate-negative activity of flying is being compensated for by offsetting. But an alternative view is that the climate-positive act of offsetting is being nullified by the taking of the flight. Seen from this angle, using offsetting as a way to continue flying starts to seem like a terrible waste of our limited offsetting opportunities.
