You buy carbon offsets so that you do not have to reduce your carbon output. A carbon offset can be having a company plant trees for a price and in return you get carbon offsets. Another example are windfarms. They sell carbon credits -- because they produce no CO2 -- and you can buy them so that you do not have to reduce your carbon output.
It's a big scam and Gore buys them so that he doesn't have to do a damn thing. Us regular people don't have the money for this nonsense scam.
Here's more info: What is a carbon offset?
Geeze Louise! Wouldn’t a few Nuclear Generation Plants provide enough Carbon offsets for the whole country??
Flood eBay with offerings! One doofus is selling carbon offsets for not driving his pickup for a day. The offsets are printed on letter-size parchment and go for $0.99.
Shipping, OTOH, is $4.05!
You pay a company to plant a tree and you can run your air-conditioning in your 24,000 sq. ft. house all you want, while telling "little" PEOPLE NOT TO DRIVE THEIR CARS!!!! tHIS IS A scam AND i DEMAND AN investigation BY THE senate AND HOUSE!!!