Re: “Skepticism on carbon reductions well-founded”
Thank you Maurice Rhodes for last week’s statistics on carbon emissions. Wow — what an eye opener! Now, let’s do some math.
China — 10.3 billion tons of carbon emitted divided by 1.4 billion people gives us 7.4 tons per person per year.
Canada — 0.6 billion tons of carbon emitted divided by 36 million people gives us 16.7 tons per person per year (not good).
How about India? 2.1 billion divided by 1.3 billion equals 1.6 tons per person per year. Now they’re good!
What about our neighbours the US? 5.3 billion divided by 326 million is 16.3 tons per person per year. Yup — even the States are now doing better than we are. That’s because in the last couple of years our emissions have gone up and theirs have gone down.
We can do a lot better. Imagine if we could be as good as a person in China, or as good as a person in India. This would seriously reduce our emissions.
If you want a dark picture, imagine if everyone in China emitted as much carbon as a Canadian? That would be very bad.
The only economy of the future is a clean economy. A very low emissions economy. Why are we resistant to a healthy and wealthy future? It’s time for us to stop patting ourselves on the back and start making some smart lifestyle and consumption decisions. The earth has one atmosphere and one human population. All the evidence is clear. The time is now for Canadians to take immediate progressive action for a clean healthy future.
Clinton Swanson
Nelson
