12 ms·

They can be as clean as they want (and sure, many people have probably worked a lot to achieve that), but in the end, the oil will become CO2 and our problem wi

by wiz21c 4y ago

They can be as clean as they want (and sure, many people have probably worked a lot to achieve that), but in the end, the oil will become CO2 and our problem will become worse.

moomoo11 4y ago
Then the west should spend trillions of dollars providing clean energy production to African countries, India, and China. Will that happen? Those guys aren’t going to stop polluting so they can grow their economies and feed their people.
- csb6 4y ago
  The U.S. produces a massive amount of emissions itself, especially considering its much smaller population compared to China and India. The U.S. government has the ability to set energy policy (e.g. not allowing new oil exploration, phasing out use of fossil fuels), which could reduce global emissions significantly. The U.S. can’t control what China and India’s energy policies are (although it certainly can greatly influence world energy markets), but it can control its own energy policy and should do that. That the U.S. is not is just making things worse.
- sangnoir 4y ago
  The US is the worst polluter in the world on a per-capita basis, and leads Africa by quite some margin.
  - notyourwork 4y ago
    Citation please.
    - jfengel 4y ago
      It's not quite true, but close. It's about #10 overall, but most of the countries above it are tiny, and their overall production is negligible. Canada and Australia do appear above the US on the list, though not radically so. They are somewhat smaller than the US. Although the US is not literally #1, either overall or per capita, it's one of the best targets for reducing CO2. Its per-capita consumption is so much higher than most that it should be able to look to other developed countries for ways to reduce it, and its overall consumption is so high that any small change will have a disproportionate effect on the total. That's a lot more words than saying "The US is the largest per-capita producer", but arguing that it isn't is really just arguing over details. The important question is "Who should be taking the biggest steps to reduce CO2" and the answer is unambiguously "The US", followed by China and the developed Western countries. Source: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC?most_recent_value_desc=true https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC?most_rec...
- twobitshifter 4y ago
  If they stop pumping oil out prices will rise and may become too expensive for poorer countries in comparison to renewables.

by wiz21c 4y ago

They can be as clean as they want (and sure, many people have probably worked a lot to achieve that), but in the end, the oil will become CO2 and our problem will become worse.

moomoo11 4y ago

Then the west should spend trillions of dollars providing clean energy production to African countries, India, and China. Will that happen? Those guys aren’t going to stop polluting so they can grow their economies and feed their people.

csb6 4y ago
The U.S. produces a massive amount of emissions itself, especially considering its much smaller population compared to China and India. The U.S. government has the ability to set energy policy (e.g. not allowing new oil exploration, phasing out use of fossil fuels), which could reduce global emissions significantly. The U.S. can’t control what China and India’s energy policies are (although it certainly can greatly influence world energy markets), but it can control its own energy policy and should do that. That the U.S. is not is just making things worse.
sangnoir 4y ago
The US is the worst polluter in the world on a per-capita basis, and leads Africa by quite some margin.
- notyourwork 4y ago
  Citation please.
  - jfengel 4y ago
    It's not quite true, but close. It's about #10 overall, but most of the countries above it are tiny, and their overall production is negligible. Canada and Australia do appear above the US on the list, though not radically so. They are somewhat smaller than the US. Although the US is not literally #1, either overall or per capita, it's one of the best targets for reducing CO2. Its per-capita consumption is so much higher than most that it should be able to look to other developed countries for ways to reduce it, and its overall consumption is so high that any small change will have a disproportionate effect on the total. That's a lot more words than saying "The US is the largest per-capita producer", but arguing that it isn't is really just arguing over details. The important question is "Who should be taking the biggest steps to reduce CO2" and the answer is unambiguously "The US", followed by China and the developed Western countries. Source: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC?most_recent_value_desc=true https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC?most_rec...
twobitshifter 4y ago
If they stop pumping oil out prices will rise and may become too expensive for poorer countries in comparison to renewables.