Hear me out....Crypto..but with Carbon

 So everyones heard of crypto currencies, the fake money that allows us to bypass banks and can buy real things even though its backed by absolutely nothing but ourselves. Well what if we used carbon.

At the mass Timber convention I went to, I talked to a man who wanted to do just that. He explained to me a process they were working on at the Georgia Forestry Services that allowed companies to buy Carbon points from buildings built sustainably in order to offset their carbon footprint and allow them to tell the world that they are Carbon Neutral. At first, this sounds cool. It's a way to not bypass the politics of sustainability but use it to the advantage of forestry programs. They can use the money to plant more trees, build more timber farms and ultimately build more sustainable buildings. Plus, large corporations will be more inclined to help with this process and even incorporate it more into their warehouses and other structures. 

But, as with any idea, there are plenty of problems that need fixing. After hearing his explanation, my first question was "what happens if companies with big pockets buy up all these Carbon points but dont change anything about what they are doing to help the environment" And there was really no answer for it yet. For example, nothing about the way apple would make or ship their products but they would get to exclaim their carbon neutrality? Doesn't seem like a good thing. Also, there are probably plenty more issues that can arise similar to the problems that we see with LEED. Even if we dont see it now, there will always be people trying to loophole the system. 

So, all of this to say, Is it possible? Could this idea work? Or is it simply another failed attempt at sustainable design.