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Here is something academic on the aviation industry specifically (though I find their work a bit incomplete, because they don't address that the overall scheme is flawed, even where communication is accurate):https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S02615...
Here is an assessment of carbon offsets by a certifier themselves. They hold that 30% of their offsets are "high quality". The assessment is in response to an investigation by the Guardian which found that 94% of offsets don't hold much weight: https://www.sylvera.com/blog/guardian-offsets-response
And finally, my favorite, but wordy. Because I need to see things "in action" to believe them. Here is an in-depth example of an offset project. Tldr: in that specific case, it's accounting magic. You build a model that predicts growing emissions in the future, so by just keeping emissions stable you can claim emission offsets: https://sci-hub.se/10.1057/s41265-016-0024-4
If you have any kind of reaction, or thoughts, let me know. This is part of my day-to-day work, so I am always curious to learn how to communicate things.
Look through the comments here. There’s really fucking stupid takes. Sometimes even with their IRL identity attached.
US CO2 output is declining.
Isn’t the real issue with the massive populations of people who don’t have the wealth to pay for the cleaner options? If you’re poor and need to provide for your family, you’re going to maximise for that as opposed to the climate.
I’m not sure that American Conservatives are the issue here…
What does "neutral" even mean. 11% emissions sounds about right, but you aren't even counting the absorbtion of the US against it.
CO2 offsetting is a ridicolous greenwashing proposition.
(We do hold 20% of the whole world's prison population, so there's that.)
Prisoners have the smallest carbon footprint of us all. Is this progress? (bitter sarcasm)
Sitting in traffic for an hour because public transit infrastructure is woefully underfunded and ignored is not an improved standard of living.
No longer being allowed to roll coal on bikers doesn't lower average living standards.
Life expectancy is not even top 20 and dropping. Social mobility is also not top 20, cost of healthcare is up there, poverty is up there.
Ethically every gram of CO2 we are putting out moves us into the wrong direction.