December 9th, 2007
Close call: U.S. NOT the world's worst polluter
Word from the international climate conference in Bali: the United States is not seen as the worst polluter on the planet. But it was a close call. And guess what: one non-governmental pollution watcher finds the U.S. worse than China! That’s sorta like being less popular than the U.S. Congress.
The organization, Germanwatch, ranks the fifty-four nations emitting the most CO2 into the earth’s atmosphere. They now rank China as the 40th worst offender. That’s actually an improvement over last year.
Sweden, of course, has the lowest carbon footprint of the nations ranked. Rounding out the top five are Germany, Iceland with all its geothermal, Mexico and India. Germanwatch says if CO2 emissions were an Olympic sport no nation on earth would win a gold medal for reduction of greenhouse gases.
Down in 55th is the U.S. And if we ‘Mericans are addicted to oil as the man in the White House says, then our pusher is even guiltier on the CO2 front: ranking dead last is Saudi Arabia. Also down in the lower rankings: Canada and Australia are at 53 and 54 repsectively. The chart measures the direction of a country’s policies and emission levels, not absolute amounts of CO2 released.
U.S. Still #1?
On that front, have no fear, the U.S. is league leader, with over 21% of all the earth’s man-made CO2 being bona fide Red, White and Blue in origin. Despite heavy growth and rampant coal-burning, China lags in second at only 19% of the world’s CO2. That’s according to Germanwatch, though other European calculations say China now produces mre CO2 annually than the U.S.
Apparently ennobled by their rising rank among the world’s polluters, and having become the world’s industrial powerhouse, China now regularly lectures the U.S. on environmental policies. The Bali conference being only their most recent chance. The Chinese head delegate at Bali said, “”I think there is much room for the United States to think whether it’s possible to change (its) lifestyle and consumption patterns in order to contribute to the protection of the global climate.”
Hah, I have a god-given right as an American to drive an SUV that gets 12 MPG and keep my house at 68-degrees even when its a 110-degrees outside by my swimming pool. I even live in a house built in the Twentieth Century with ZERO insulation in the walls because it wasn’t mandatory. Who the hell do those Chinese think they’re talking to?
A newsman since 1969, Harry Fuller has worked for CBS, ABC, CNBC Europe, CNET and was founding news director at TechTV. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
Subscribe to GreenTech Pastures via Email alerts or RSS.
