I think offsetting your emissions and offsetting your meat consumption are treated differently by EAs because they really are different.
I liked the two examples presented by William MacAskill in ‘Doing good better’:
Offsetting your contribution to climate change by donating to CoolEarth, so that all the CO2 you produce gets offset before it gets to harm anyone—the ‘undoing harm’ kind
Donating to an org that advocates for not cheating on your spouse to offset your cheating on your spouse—the ‘apology’ kind
In the second case the damage is already done; by offsetting, you just prevent further harm. Eating meat while donating to animal welfare organizations is more like the second example. You harm some animals and then pay for some other animals to be saved. You can’t undo the harm done to the animals harmed.
I think offsetting your emissions and offsetting your meat consumption are treated differently by EAs because they really are different.
I liked the two examples presented by William MacAskill in ‘Doing good better’:
Offsetting your contribution to climate change by donating to CoolEarth, so that all the CO2 you produce gets offset before it gets to harm anyone—the ‘undoing harm’ kind
Donating to an org that advocates for not cheating on your spouse to offset your cheating on your spouse—the ‘apology’ kind
In the second case the damage is already done; by offsetting, you just prevent further harm. Eating meat while donating to animal welfare organizations is more like the second example. You harm some animals and then pay for some other animals to be saved. You can’t undo the harm done to the animals harmed.