But carbon credits were never marketed as a way for people to retire carbon debt - they were presented as a way to implement the 'polluter pays' principle using the 'proven' mechanisms of the market.
I do think markets are a very useful social technology for allocating resources. But they can also be abused for distributing liability and they're slow. There's a reason most polities abandon the market model for urgent tasks like firefighting.
In all fairness, that sounds a lot like "The citizenry is too stupid to get it, so now we force our will upon them." or, and that's even less charitable, "the section of the citizenry that wants carbon emission deceleration does want others to pay for it."
At some point, I think we need to decide if we want to continue the world trying to be democratic, or if we want more-or-less benevolent, eco-dictatorships.
I do think markets are a very useful social technology for allocating resources. But they can also be abused for distributing liability and they're slow. There's a reason most polities abandon the market model for urgent tasks like firefighting.