Reduce Your Carbon Footprint OR Carbon Offsetting?

Should you reduce your carbon footprint or just buy carbon offsets? Carbon offsetting is popular and is a lucrative business. I've seen credit cards that make donations to offset your carbon usage, I've seen travel companies that allow you to purchase carbon offsets for your travels, but mostly I've seen large corporations purchase carbon offsets. The dilemma is that carbon offsets allow the offenders to pay for the right to continue offending while those who reduce their carbon footprint create more and more room for the offenders. There are, however, circumstances where cleaner alternatives do not exist and carbon offsetting allows these companies to attempt to mitigate their environmental damage. To parody the absurdity of carbon offsets, the humorous CheatNeutral website was created. Check it out: http://www.cheatneutral.com/