Lyft Claims Its Ride Service Is Now Carbon Neutral

Lyft has proclaimed that its ride-hailing service is now carbon neutral in an announcement to coincide with Earth Day.

According to Lyft co-founder John Zimmer and Logan Green, the company has started to purchase carbon offsets. What this basically means is that rather than actually eliminating emissions from the vehicles in its expansive fleet, Lyft is helping to fund projects that reduce carbon emissions.

Lyft claims that in the first year of its carbon neutral pledge, it will offset over one million metric tons of carbon, equivalent to hundreds of thousands of cars being taken off the road.

In a post published to Medium, Lyft says it is now “one of the world’s largest voluntary purchases of carbon offsets.”

“Lyft rides are now carbon-neutral through the direct funding of emission mitigation efforts, including the reduction of emissions in the automotive manufacturing process, renewable energy programs, forestry projects, and the capture of emissions from landfills,” the post continues.

Some think even more can be done

Not everyone is so thrilled with Lyft’s announcement, however. According to the chief executive and founder of Electra Meccanica, Jerry Kroll, adopting electric vehicles on mass is the best way to battle to carbon emissions.

“How can you feel good about yourself if you’re driving around in a huge gas-guzzling car?” Kroll told Mashable during a phone interview.

Lyft has previously pledged to provide 1 billion rides in carbon-neutral vehicles by 2025 and to run its future EV self-driving cars exclusively on renewable energy.