A class of MIT students in mechanical engineering has studied the carbon footprints of different lifestyles, from the homeless to multimillionaires. And the results are both fascinating and frightening. According to the study, even the people with the lowest incomes in the U.S. emit twice more carbon than the average people on Earth. These results might be controversial because the study assumed that everyone in the U.S. is equally using government services. Here is one of the students’ conclusion: ‘Due to the combined effects of subsidies and rebound, the magnitude of possible reductions in energy use for people in the United States by voluntary changes in spending patterns appears limited.’ But read more…
A class of MIT students in mechanical engineering has studied the carbon footprints of different lifestyles, from the homeless to multimillionaires. And the results are both fascinating and frightening. According to the study, even the people with the lowest incomes in the U.S. emit twice more carbon than the average people on Earth. These results [...]
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I am not sure what good it does to track carbon footprints without first realizing that people have no intention of doing what they preach when it comes to conservation. No one really changes their own lifestyle, they expect others to change theirs. We complain about the price of oil, yet NASCAR, dune buggies, 4-wheelers, and other recreational use of gasoline thrive and grow. Even Al Gore uses more electricity in a month than 10 families combined. China has the most polluted air and the Kyoto Treaty looks the other way, while the U.S. has clean coal technology and are considered evil. The world first needs to get off it’s high horse and DO something, not constantly talk about it! Enough with the studies, let’s learn how not to be hypocrites.