Just a Fad?

Last Sunday, writing in The New York Time's Week in Review, Andrew C. Revkin explored the faddishness of purchasing credits to offset your carbon-footprint. The article is headlined "Carbon-Neutral is Hip, but is the Green?" To me, the most interesting part of the article was this quote from Charles Komanoff, an energy economist in New York: "There isn't a single American household above the poverty line that couldn't cut their CO2 at least 25 percent in six months through a straightforward series of simple and terrifically cost-effective measures." Strangely, the Times doesn't give Komanoff the opportunity to tell us what those measures are. Well, I'm curious enough to track Komanoff down and ask him. I'll let you know what he has to say. In the meantime, what do you think: Is purchasing carbon credits a useful tool, or a silly fad?