Pat yourselves on the back and carry on consuming

On-line carbon counters appeal to me in the same way that calorie counters do... provoking guilty fascination and a persistent nagging knowledge that I really ought to do something about my consumption. So when I read this, I thought I might check out how to "learn about ways to reduce emissions, and contribute to one of the least addressed and most important ways to combat climate change -- protecting existing tropical forests" here. It turns out that you can "offset your own emissions" by donating money to help save rainforests in South America. I can't deny it's a worthy cause, but the implications make me feel kind of sick (so maybe I'll just fly to Bali to meet all my mates for a chat about how people with less money than us could reduce their emissions).