Will Airlines Lose Carbon Offset Cash?

(MoneyWatch)  The fear of creating a bigger carbon footprint is making some ecoconscious consumers pay to minimize the environmental impacts of air travel. And while some airlines are offering these carbon offsets on plane flights for a price, other private companies are attempting to cash in at major airports.

Customers at San Francisco International Airport will be able to buy certified carbon offsets to minimize the environmental impact of their air travel at nearby kiosks. The experimental program is set to start in spring and created by 3Degrees, a San Francisco-based company that sells renewable energy and carbon reduction investments. The company partnered with airport officials on the project and but details on the program were few. However, the company's Web site estimates a two-hour plane flight's carbon footprint would be offset by $4.14. The company also plans a 30 percent take from each offset purchase. The offsets are not tax deductible.

Some airlines, like Virgin America, Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines, already allow passengers to make a donation to remedy the use of jet fuel on the environment. In 2008, the idea of paying for offsets became big enough for the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization to create a new carbon-emissions offset standard for air passengers last June, so consumers wouldn't be overcharged by the many third-party companies selling offsets.

While several companies offer the service online, the airport kiosk idea may be the first in the United States -- but it surely won't be the last. Will airlines let this happen or finally put money into promoting their environmental programs so consumers know they exist? Will they at least provide information on carbon offsets when customers purchase tickets online, like Virgin America? Or will they relegate environmental awareness to some corporate purgatory and lose out on the possible millions of dollars that new awareness provides?

If corporations view environmentalism as a problem rather than an opportunity, they will continue to lose customers and cash to third parties willing to provide those opportunities.