meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Energy Gang

The Problem With Carbon Offsets

Energy Gang

Wood Mackenzie

Tech News, Environment, Sustainability, Innovation, Renewable Energy, Technology, Alternative Energy, Energy, News, Cleantech, Wind Energy, Business, Climate Change, Solar Energy

4.61.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 August 2019

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

With flight shame growing in popularity, extreme weather intensifying, and the Amazon burning, there’s more demand than ever for carbon offsets to assuage our guilt and make us feel like we’re doing something.

But those credits many not be doing what you think they are — or anything at all.

This week, we’re discussing the complicated and frustrating world of carbon offsets. There’s a reason why even the United Nations is now calling out their limitations. 

This conversation is particularly important as California considers joining the Tropical Forest Standard as part of its cap-and-trade program.

Then, we’ll talk about new climate plans from Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang. What’s in them? And who will become the climate candidate?

Finally, we dig into a bill from Ohio that bails out big utilities and guts clean energy. The politics of this thing are ugly — and they are only getting uglier.

Read along with us:

  • ProPublica: An Even More Inconvenient Truth
  • Bloomberg: Greta Thunberg and ‘Flight Shame’ Are Fueling a Carbon Offset Boom
  • New York Times: Bernie Sanders' Green New Deal
  • Vox: Ohio Just Passed the Worst Energy Bill of the 21st Century

Support for this podcast is brought to you by Sungrow. With the world’s most powerful 250-kilowatt, 1,500-volt string inverter, Sungrow is providing disruptive technology for utility-scale projects.

Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcher or wherever you find your audio content.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The Energy Gang is supported by Sun Grow. Sun Grow is the leading solar inverter supplier by volume in the world.

0:07.0

If you're not using Sun Grow inverters, what are you doing?

0:10.0

It is now a leading supplier across the Americas too.

0:12.8

With the world's most powerful 250 kilowatt 1500 volt string inverter,

0:16.9

Sungrow is providing disruptive technology for utility scale projects,

0:21.3

both solar and storage.

0:23.2

Find out more at sungrow power.com.

0:26.8

And don't forget to download GTM's new iOS news app in the Apple store.

0:30.9

We've got an Android one coming as well, so don't fret Android users.

0:36.0

It is redesigned and the perfect way to get all the top clean energy business news on your phone.

0:41.0

If you prefer the old-fashioned way, go to Green Tech Media.com

0:43.7

slash newsletters to sign up for email news in your inbox every morning. From Green Tech Media, this is the Energy Gang. Weekly debates and discussions about the

1:00.3

fast-changing world of energy. Welcome, I'm Stephen Lacey in Boston.

1:04.0

I am your host and a contributing editor at GTM.

1:08.0

This week, with flight shame growing in popularity,

1:11.0

extreme weather intensifying, and the Amazon in flames.

1:14.0

There's more demand than ever for carbon offsets to a

1:17.0

swage guilt and make us feel like we're doing

1:19.0

something, anything.

1:21.0

But those credits may not be doing what you think they are, or in some cases,

1:25.2

doing anything at all.

1:26.6

We are digging into the complicated and frustrating world of carbon offsets.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wood Mackenzie, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Wood Mackenzie and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.