Globe and Mail: Brent Jang

Air Canada passengers can now ease their guilt over global warming by buying carbon offsets, meaning a clear conscience for less than $20 on a return fare on popular routes.

On busy transatlantic routes such as Toronto-London, it will cost $19.20 to offset a passenger’s share of a plane’s carbon emissions. Domestically, a Vancouver-Montreal return flight will mean an extra $12.80 tacked on the ticket price.

Charles McKee, Air Canada’s marketing vice-president, became one of the first consumers to pay the voluntary environmental fee yesterday on a Montreal-Boston booking, at a cost of $1.60 for the short-haul route.

“We believe that this will resonate very strongly with a great number of our customers, but we’re not so naive as to think that it will resonate with all customers,” Mr. McKee said. Related Articles

Proceeds from the “green fee” collected from passengers will go to a not-for-profit environmental group called Zerofootprint, he stressed, offering assurances that Air Canada is acting as an intermediary and won’t be generating any revenue from the optional fee.

Zerofootprint oversees a variety of projects, including planting trees to reduce greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming.

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