I declined nearly $10k to teach for an Ivy League school for a week in Shanghai

Carbon offsets don't take CO2 out of the atmosphere, as far as I've found. Some may result in some trees being planted, but they mostly replace trees that were cut down. They don't undo fossil fuels removed from underground.

The carbon capture I'm aware of only stores it for a while, usually to reuse in a way that puts more CO2 in the atmosphere, like pumping new oil out of the ground, plus the capture process uses energy. If that energy comes from fossil fuels, it doesn't remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

As best I can tell, offsets don't lower CO2 levels. On the contrary, I think psychologically, they motivate people to contribute more greenhouse gases than they would have otherwise.

I'd love to find out I was wrong, but I'm not aware of any existing process that net significantly removes CO2 from the atmosphere for the long term. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know. I'd love to find out I was wrong.

Also, jet fuel emits more than CO2. Pollution is a separate issue from global warming.

> So why not just buy a carbon offset, take the flight, and make $10k?

That's what the post answers -- how learning one's values experientially and living them created a better life.