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Even with your slightly lower footprint due to not owning a car you still have a much larger footprint than the world mean. Probably 2-3x. So there are billions
by harryh 10y ago
Even with your slightly lower footprint due to not owning a car you still have a much larger footprint than the world mean. Probably 2-3x. So there are billions of people being "punished" for what you're doing.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- tombert 10y agoWell, considering that I get my power from a combination of Nuclear and wind power, I doubt that I give a particularly high carbon footprint. But you're not wrong, I almost certainly have a higher footprint than most of the third world. I guess what I was getting at is that I think the levels New York has are substantially more sustainable than the rest of the US. Sorry for the confusion.
- jbail 10y agoDo you have any data to back up your claim that New York is "substantially more sustainable than the rest of the US"? I'd be genuinely curious to look at that data
- tombert 10y agoIt's not terribly hard to find data on NYC's carbon footprint per capita: http://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/state/analysis/ http://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/state/analysis/ From the article: "New York, with a population of 19.6 million people, had the lowest per capita CO2 emissions – 8 mt per capita. A large portion of the population is located in the New York City metropolitan area where mass transit is readily available and most residences are multi-family units that provide efficiencies of scale in terms of energy for heating and cooling."
- yread 10y agoI would guess your footprint is more increased by getting all kinds of stuff (you don't really need). And the stuff being shipped across half the globe.
- tombert 10y agoThat's a fair point and I'll admit I hadn't considered that. Conceivably, we could make electric (or something) transportation systems that can travel across the world and not produce and CO2, but we certainly haven't gotten there yet.
- sanxiyn 10y agoMarine transport is incredibly efficient. Total marine transport accounts for ~2% of global CO2 emission. It would be nice to have, but definitely a low priority. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_shipping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_shippi...
- mikeash 10y agoDon't forget to include the chemical energy you use to run your body in your figure for "my power." The impact from agriculture is pretty substantial.
- losteverything 10y agoI don't like the word "punished" in this climate context.
- harryh 10y agoI don't either. Hence my use of scare quotes.
- losteverything 10y agoI think you and i share a similar line of thought. I'm trying to rack my brain (and contribute something) as when (other eras) in history has the "regard of future generations" cause for such debate or action like this one. Nobody can predict if another person's life will be better if "x" happens. This is a foundation of suicide prevention.