- WEB EXCLUSIVE - PE COFFEEHAUS In an August 2008 report, the
GAO identified four primary challenges related to the United
States voluntary carbon offset market: - The concept of a carbon
offset is complicated because offsets can involve different
activities, definitions, greenhouse gases, and timeframes for
measurement - Ensuring the credibility of offsets is challenging
because there are many ways to determine whether a project is
additional to a business-as-usual baseline, and inherent
uncertainty exists in measuring emissions reductions relative to
such a baseline. Related to this, the use of multiple quality
assurance mechanisms with varying requirements may raise
questions about whether offsets are fully fungible-
interchangeable and of comparable quality. - Including offsets
in regulatory programs to limit greenhouse gas emissions could
result in environmental and economic tradeoffs. For example
offsets could lower the cost of complying with an emissions
reduction policy, but this may delay on-site redu