A carbon-neutral airline is an oxymoron — at least for now

Delta Airlines recently said it's spending $1 billion to zero out its carbon emissions. It's not quite that easy.

Plane with leaf trail.
(Image credit: Illustrated | DragonTiger/iStock, IkonStudio/iStock)

When it comes to reducing humanity's carbon emissions, one particularly tough challenge is going to be air travel. And the airlines know it. Earlier this month, Delta Airlines said it would spend $1 billion over the next decade to zero-out its carbon emissions — the biggest such pledge from any airline to date.

But can Delta, or any airline, actually live up to such a promise? Unfortunately, for the moment, the answer is almost certainly no.

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.