Apr 17, 2007 12:25 am US/Central
Good Question: Who Is Causing The Most Pollution?
by Ben Tracy
(WCCO)
Solving the climate crisis is going to take a worldwide push. Scientists say we need to cut carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent by 2050 to avoid radical changes to our planet. That's going to require the biggest polluters to change their behavior.
The United States tops the list in terms of total carbon dioxide emissions. China, Russia, India and Japan round out the top 5.
"We have kind of a carbon shadow," said J. Drake Hamilton, Science Policy Director at Fresh Energy in St. Paul.
She says the United States makes up less than 5 percent of the world's population but we use 25 percent of the world's energy. In some ways it is a sign of our success.
"We're producing more products, getting more affluent, building more jobs," said Hamilton. "The question is do we have to do that using so much energy? We use about twice as much as a country as all of the European Union does."
Also, the average American produces twice the amount of carbon dioxide pollution as an average European. However, the world is now increasingly focusing its attention on China.
China is rapidly industrializing, bringing a new coal-fired power plant online every seven to ten days. Their burning of fossil fuels rose 9 percent last year compared to a 1 percent increase in the U.S.
China may become the world's biggest carbon dioxide emitter as early as this year, compounding efforts to slow global emissions. President Bush says unless China changes, regulations here would be useless.
"I think there's some truth to his point, but I don't think it's right for us to drag our heels," said one Twin Cities' man.
"It's not a question of whether China needs to do it or we need to do it, everyone needs to do it," said Hamilton. "Because if one part of the world does it and the other doesn't we're still sunk. I'd like to think in the U.S. we can solve these problems. There's a lot of money to be made and the people who get in the game soonest are going to make the most money."
China's emissions are certainly making the problem worse, but they haven't caused the bulk of the problem.
Carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for about 100 years. China is only responsible for about 8 percent of what's up there, while 27 percent came from Western Europe and 29 percent from the United States.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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