A recent report from the International Energy Association has a lot of data on emissions as they are distributed across the world by wealth. These two charts stand out (click to enlarge):
The first one shows just how disproportionate energy consumption is within the U.S, and in the U.S. compared to three other large-population areas of the world.
Our second-wealthiest percentile consumes significantly more than Europe's wealthiest percentile, and almost as much as China's wealthiest percentile.
Our wealthiest percentile has a staggeringly worse carbon footprint than those of the E.U or China. And India... the lowest percentile in the U.S. consumes more energy than all but the highest percentile in India.
And then there's the composite chart of the world:
The top 10% in wealth emits almost 50% of the C02. If we look at the top 30% in wealth (which would probably include a strong majority of people within the U.S.), the carbon emissions are at 79%.
A friend asked me the other day if high-speed rail was a dead technology, since we have airplanes and cars. She was trying to make the argument for it to someone else, who probably thinks climate change is a hoax, or if not that, will come up with some excuse about China.
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