It seemed like a great idea, at first, to sell greenhouse gas (GHG) emission credits to offset the eco-damage created by flying to business meetings.

Companies could burnish their green image as carbon-neutral by investing in offset credits. Other companies make a profit on the transaction.

But turning this green idea into a business plan is proving harder than most thought.

The plan was to make everyone aware that their airplane rides create GHG releases that contribute to climate change. The eco-aware would travel less frequently and instead rely on teleconferencing or web-based conferencing to conduct routine business meetings.

For those times when you had to be there in person, you’d voluntarily purchase GHG emission offset credits to ease your inner green soul.

But as it turns out, business travel seems to be increasing, according to a report in the New York Times. Reason: Relying on carbon-offsets lets you travel as much as you want as long as you spend a few bucks on offset credits. So instead of discouraging travel, offsets created a sense of guilt-free travel! Yeah!

This reality has just forced the eco-aware travel agency, Responsible Travel, to get out of the carbon-offset travel business.

The Times’ Elisabeth Rosenthal reports Responsible Travel’s managing director Justin Francis complains that the good intent of the carbon offset idea has become “a kind of get-out-of-jail-free card.” So instead of flying less, people are traveling more and creating more GHG emission releases related to air travel.

The difficulty in proving that purchasing offsets actually reduces GHG emissions has prompted others to exit the business as well. The Times reports that Yahoo and the U.S. House of Representatives have recently abandoned their carbon offset programs.

Tags: carbon offsets, green travel, Responsible Travel, Yahoo!