Carbon offsetting - is it really worth it?

As keen travellers, we are encouraged to find solutions to reduce our impact on the planet and to travel responsibly. That is very well  but if you can't give up flying because there are no alternative transport to a particular destination, then what do you do? Do you choose airlines that offer offsetting schemes? Do you know where the money goes? Do you buy a flight and then find a scheme where you can select a carbon offsetting project? Do these schemes really work?

Elisabeth at Go Green Travel Green wrote a great post about this topic: 12 Things You Need to Know About Carbon Offsets.

Another good source of information is DirectGov website.

Personally, I am confused. We are told that flying is bad for the environment but airlines come up with such cheap flights that you can't refuse these offers to discover the world. Shouldn't airlines be the ones responsible for offsetting in the first place? Shouldn't the price of the ticket include offsetting?

I would be interested to hear your views on this topic. Do you care? If so, what do you do to offset your carbon consumption?