Amtrak Markets Carbon Offsets

Amtrak has announced a partnership with the non-profit Carbonfund.org Foundation to market the sale of carbon offsets to environmentally-conscious passengers who want to mitigate the impacts of their already-efficient mode of travel.

The Amtrak/Carbonfund.org products include 2,500 miles of rail travel offsets for $3 and 5,500 miles of offsets for $5.50, and is currently featured on Amtrak’s home page.

While cases of apparent abuse fuel the debate regarding the impact of unregulated carbon offsets, any effort to boost the visibility of trains as the green travel option is welcome given the inherent energy superiority of passenger rail for intercity transportation.

—Matthew Melzer