I’m a skeptic by nature. So when I first started hearing about carbon offsets, my initial reaction was that they must just be a sugar pill, an empty way to make people feel less guilty about their carbon-intensive lifestyles. But I’m becoming more of a believer, and here’s why. Carbon offsets are a way to counterbalance your carbon emissions by investing in solutions such as wind energy. You purchase the “offset,” and your money goes toward developing new wind farms or preserving rainforest acreage or capturing methane. There are several companies and nonprofits that do this, in varying ways.

The Ford Motor Company came under attack in the blogging world last week, for seemingly trying to have its cake and eat it too - or, more accurately, for trying to emit its carbon and appear to be doing something to stop global warming. Back in April, Ford signed a deal with TerraPass, a carbon offset provider, to give Ford buyers a chance to offset their emissions by purchasing a TerraPass with their car. The trouble is, Ford is a contributor to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which produced those ridiculous global warming denial ads that everyone's been up in arms over for weeks.