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are Americans producing the most emissions per person? I bet no - so why Americans are singled out?

by option 5y ago

raffraffraff 5y ago
I think it's because some Nations with higher per-capita emmissions (like Qatar) are teensy and can't do much about their heavy outputs (desalination, aircon take a lot of energy). The US is huge, is visible on the top per-capita list and is also the 2nd largest emitter overall. Given that the US is a first world economy, is extremely consumerist and has a love affair with gas-guzzling cars, it's likely that by simply making better choices, the US could likely cut more % per-capita than Qatar. And given their size, that would have impact on a global scale.
goodpoint 5y ago
Among countries with big population numbers, US has among the highest rate of energy use and pollution per person, and by far.
- abeppu 5y ago
  I think that's not true. Qatar leads the list (and Kuwait, Oman, UAE are also up there), and countries like Canada, Australia are also ahead of the US (I imagine in part b/c of heating and cooling?). https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/co2-emissions-per-capita/ https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/co2-emissions-pe...
- sologoub 5y ago
  Source? US looks to be #2 on overall CO2 emissions (China is double what US outputs), if you sort by per capita (per person), US is not the top by far (16th): https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/co2-emissions-per-capita/ https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/co2-emissions-pe...
  - nimmer 5y ago
    No, you have to take in account energy usage and pollution attributed to the consumer of at the end of the production chain. E.g. if you import a phone from China you have to account for the energy usage and pollution as yours.
    - abeppu 5y ago
      Do you have a reference to a list which does that calculation? All the other states at the to of that carbon per capita list also seem like they're highly dependent on imports, possibly more than the US, so I'd expect that many of the factors you describe also apply to them. The gulf states also have to get their phones from abroad.
    - sologoub 5y ago
      That basically blames US consumers for Chinese policy and environmental practices - how is a US consumer going to force China to stop using coal powerplants? The choice/substitution argument doesn’t work when there are no practical alternatives. This is why climate change and pollution are not individual choices, but a global imperative. Anything short of global coordinated action to mitigate won’t work (and won’t be enough). What individuals can do is put pressure on their officials and buy sensibly when choice is there.
      - throwaway029001 5y ago
        > That basically blames US consumers for Chinese policy Not at all, this is not personal consumer's choice. Consumers can only make efforts to fight consumerism and push for political change.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
yaacov 5y ago
This is more a question for google than HN in my opinion. Whether it’s the most depends how you count and there are usually small countries that come in higher. But US is always near the top in the lists.
the_third_wave 5y ago
Americans are singled out because of two reasons: the fact that north-Americans [1] like the authors of this piece are incredibly north-America centred and consider north-America and northern-Americans the centre of the universe. Add to this the fact that self-flagellation is seen as a virtuous act in liberal western societies like those in the USA and Canada while criticising other countries and cultures is seen as offensive, especially when the criticism centres around those other cultures developing habits which the west is being criticised for - e.g. increased mobility, increased resource use. This is counterproductive since it exacerbates the problems caused by those habits - e.g. China building hundreds of coal-powered power stations - while it would have been possible to forestall this by developing viable [1] alternatives and making the technology available to those countries which do not have the resources to develop these by themselves. [1] viable as in providing the same benefits while reducing or eliminating the negative aspects, e.g. nuclear instead of coal-fired power stations

are Americans producing the most emissions per person? I bet no - so why Americans are singled out?

by option 5y ago

are Americans producing the most emissions per person? I bet no - so why Americans are singled out?

I think it's because some Nations with higher per-capita emmissions (like Qatar) are teensy and can't do much about their heavy outputs (desalination, aircon take a lot of energy). The US is huge, is visible on the top per-capita list and is also the 2nd largest emitter overall. Given that the US is a first world economy, is extremely consumerist and has a love affair with gas-guzzling cars, it's likely that by simply making better choices, the US could likely cut more % per-capita than Qatar. And given their size, that would have impact on a global scale.

goodpoint 5y ago

Among countries with big population numbers, US has among the highest rate of energy use and pollution per person, and by far.

abeppu 5y ago
I think that's not true. Qatar leads the list (and Kuwait, Oman, UAE are also up there), and countries like Canada, Australia are also ahead of the US (I imagine in part b/c of heating and cooling?). https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/co2-emissions-per-capita/ https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/co2-emissions-pe...
sologoub 5y ago
Source? US looks to be #2 on overall CO2 emissions (China is double what US outputs), if you sort by per capita (per person), US is not the top by far (16th): https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/co2-emissions-per-capita/ https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/co2-emissions-pe...
- nimmer 5y ago
  No, you have to take in account energy usage and pollution attributed to the consumer of at the end of the production chain. E.g. if you import a phone from China you have to account for the energy usage and pollution as yours.
  - abeppu 5y ago
    Do you have a reference to a list which does that calculation? All the other states at the to of that carbon per capita list also seem like they're highly dependent on imports, possibly more than the US, so I'd expect that many of the factors you describe also apply to them. The gulf states also have to get their phones from abroad.
  - sologoub 5y ago
    That basically blames US consumers for Chinese policy and environmental practices - how is a US consumer going to force China to stop using coal powerplants? The choice/substitution argument doesn’t work when there are no practical alternatives. This is why climate change and pollution are not individual choices, but a global imperative. Anything short of global coordinated action to mitigate won’t work (and won’t be enough). What individuals can do is put pressure on their officials and buy sensibly when choice is there.
    - throwaway029001 5y ago
      > That basically blames US consumers for Chinese policy Not at all, this is not personal consumer's choice. Consumers can only make efforts to fight consumerism and push for political change.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

yaacov 5y ago

This is more a question for google than HN in my opinion. Whether it’s the most depends how you count and there are usually small countries that come in higher. But US is always near the top in the lists.

the_third_wave 5y ago

Americans are singled out because of two reasons: the fact that north-Americans [1] like the authors of this piece are incredibly north-America centred and consider north-America and northern-Americans the centre of the universe. Add to this the fact that self-flagellation is seen as a virtuous act in liberal western societies like those in the USA and Canada while criticising other countries and cultures is seen as offensive, especially when the criticism centres around those other cultures developing habits which the west is being criticised for - e.g. increased mobility, increased resource use. This is counterproductive since it exacerbates the problems caused by those habits - e.g. China building hundreds of coal-powered power stations - while it would have been possible to forestall this by developing viable [1] alternatives and making the technology available to those countries which do not have the resources to develop these by themselves. [1] viable as in providing the same benefits while reducing or eliminating the negative aspects, e.g. nuclear instead of coal-fired power stations