Where's the Pay-at-the-Pump Carbon Offset?

A topic came up a few weeks ago during my Sunday breakfast that entered my brain again yesterday. I was filling up my truck at a Holiday station that advertises their BluePlanet&tm; "Earth-friendly gasoline".

I paid at the pump like I always do and was asked to choose an octane, if I wanted a receipt and then was asked the question that prompted my greater question: do you want a $9 car wash?

I'm wondering why they're not also asking me if I want to buy a carbon offset and neutralize my gas consumption?

After all, PetSmart's little keypad asks me if I want to donate $1.50 to homeless pets every time I buy dog food.

I'm just surprised that all of these gasoline companies that are trying to appear more "green" aren't already doing this. They'd just have to pass it through to another program. And, the $9 car washes are proof-positive that, even when the filled gas tank is running $41 (and people are complaining about it), they'll *still* add on the car wash and make it an even $50.

Now, I know that many of the carbon offset programs are a scam. So are a lot of other charities. That doesn't make the *concept* invalid. There's got to be an organization that would *actually* sink the appropriate amount of carbon into trees or other methods in a verifiable way for a fee.

That's the fee I'd like to see on the pump. I've seen offset costs between $1 and $30 a ton tossed around. Whatever the actual cost, if it's between that range, a 20 gallon tank of gas puts the carbon offset at or below that $9 car wash. The PR win alone would be worth it for any one of those gas station chains and they'd get that credit just for making it *possible* for their customers to do the right thing.