However, in both cases the analogies are flawed. In buying indulgences, you don’t “undo” the harm you’ve caused others or the sins you’ve done. In contrast, through effective carbon offsetting, you’re preventing anyone from being harmed by your emissions in the first place: if you emit carbon dioxide throughout your life but effectively offset it at the same time, overall your life contributes nothing to climate change. Similarly, “offsetting” your adultery (even if you genuinely could) would still affect who is harmed, even if it keeps the total number of adulterous acts constant. In
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