Shutting Down the CO2 Machine

In 2006 China took over the dubious honor of being the #1 producer of CO2 in the world. American's collectively let out a sigh of relief...."It's not our fault anymore!" And so another falsehood enters into the American Culture. It is now easy to think..."Why should I work so hard to reduce CO2 when I know that China is not?" The hidden truth is that the per capita CO2 emissions in China are still far far below the of the US, it takes about 10 Chinese to make as much CO2 as it takes 1 America. And, when you subtract the CO2 associated with the Chinese industries for export products then the ratio drops to about 25 Chinese to 1 American in CO2 production.

This is because, tragically, China has become #1 by building industries to sell energy efficient products to the US. They build CFL's-We buy them, They build batteries for the Toyota Prius-We buy them, They build solar panels-We buy them. A large portion of "China's" CO2 footprint really belongs to America because we buy the products of their industries.

This is the classic example of the idea of "global" warming is out of step with the current standards for reduction.

The average person in the US tries to REDUCE their carbon footprint by buying energy efficient light bulbs, hybrids and re-usable shopping bags without thinking of where those products come from and what effect those industries are having on their local carbon footprint. This is NOT global thinking and it does NOTHING to alleviate the problem. All we are doing, so far, is moving the mess out of our country. The mess is still being produced but it is "out of sight".

The only solution for reducing carbon dioxide is to MAKE LESS by reusing items we already have (plastic shopping bags and well-tuned small cars) and stop buying new crap that makes more CO2 emissions.

Look around your house and find all the items made in CHINA and know that the CO2 emissions to make those things belongs to YOU!