Jul
11
2007
Lists are made for everything. We have a list of the best hitters in baseball, of the sexiest movie stars, of the tallest buildings in the world, and at the end of this blog, we have the list of the greatest per capita Carbon Dioxide (CO2) polluters on earth. Though some countries, such as China, show a high total output in CO2, that gross number comes down as the total CO2 emissions are apportioned among the total national population. If we apportion the national CO2 output among every man, woman, and child living in a country, experts feel we get a fairer distribution of pollution guilt. As a result, as you can see from the referenced list, the United States ranks very high in per capita pollution. Some have suggested that this type of ranking system may be used to set up a penalty system such as a world tax based upon high per capita pollution or an international quota system. The Kyoto Accords were an attempt at such a solution to the CO2 problem. Let us know if you think this is fair.
http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/emis/top2000.cap
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