What is the carbon baseline of the U.S.?
In the late 1990s scientists estimated the amount of carbon dioxide being emitted in the United States. To do this they estimated the amount of CO2 being emitted from various sources, including power plants, automobiles, and agriculture. The quantity of CO2 the researchers arrived at is considered the baseline for the United States. Since that time, one method of determining if a carbon offset is “additional” requires that the reduction in CO2 must have occurred since the baseline was determined and be measured relative to that baseline. Agricultural carbon offsets are held to the baseline standard with only those offsets resulting in a net reduction of the historic baseline amount of CO2 qualifying as a true carbon offset. For more information, read the online article Depositing Carbon in the Bank, the Soil Bank, that is.
