New Credit Card offering Carbon Offset Program

As most credit cards offer advantages such as frequent-flyer miles or other purchase points, Bank of America and Brighter Planet have something else in mind: carbon offsets.
While still controversial, the credit card enables consumers to fund carbon offset projects with each “point” that they earn on their card.

How does it work?

Cardholders earn 1 point [...]

As most credit cards offer advantages such as frequent-flyer miles or other purchase points, Bank of America and Brighter Planet have something else in mind: carbon offsets.

While still controversial, the credit card enables consumers to fund carbon offset projects with each “point” that they earn on their card.

How does it work?

• Cardholders earn 1 point for every $1 spent in net retail purchases.
• Points are automatically redeemed monthly to help fund renewable energy projects.
• Every 1,000 points will fund an estimated 1 ton of carbon offsets (they claim this amount is “roughly equivalent to taking a car off the road for 2,000 miles, or powering and heating/cooling your home for a month”).
• Earn 50% more points with a match from Bank of America through December 2008.
• Earn 1,000 bonus points after your first transaction to fund an estimated 1 ton of carbon offsets to offset the creation and delivery of your credit card.
• Earn an additional 1,000 bonus points when you sign up for paperless statements.

According to Brighter Planet, earned points support a “diverse portfolio of renewable energy projects” that help reduce carbon footprints, such as renewable energy projects (such as wind, methane, and solar) and meet the requirements of Brighter Planet’s Carbon Offset Policy.

Carbon offset programs have recently received a lot of both positive and negative press, and the debate as to exactly how to determine what is a valid offset is still ongoing, so it will be interesting to see exactly how this new program plays out.