In late July, General Electric said it will begin issuing the Earth Rewards MasterCard that will allow consumers to help fight global warming. Here's how it will work, according to an article in Fortune magazine: "Consumers will be able to dedicate one percent of their purchases to fund projects that offset carbon dioxide emissions. (They can also opt to get 1/2 of one percent cash back, in which case the other 1/2 of one percent will go to carbon offsets.) GE will then pool those monies and once a year -- on Earth Day, natch -- invest them in verified, transparent carbon offset projects.
For instance, a consumer who charges $750 a month, or $9,000 a year, would offset 10 tons of emissions -- the annual carbon footprint of a typical individual, according to GE's Gentile.
There's no end to what these offsets could do. They could be used to capture methane gas from landfills, to plant trees, to finance renewable energy projects or to pay for energy efficiency -- all of which reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
I agree with Fortune columnist Marc Gunther that this kind of credit card is a good first step in getting people to fight climate change, but that using this card does not entail sacrifice – and the U.S. government and all Americans will have some big sacrifices to make if we decided to fight global warming in a serious way.
Gunther notes that Bank of America will also offer a carbon-offset credit card soon. You'll have options!
If you want to investigate other socially responsible credit cards, check out this article from Co-op America.
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