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America's richest 10% are responsible for 40% of its planet-heating pollution, new report finds (www.cnn.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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America’s wealthiest people are also some of the world’s biggest polluters – not only because of their massive homes and private jets, but because of the fossil fuels generated by the companies they invest their money in.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks this is so correct. Sure the wealthiest personally have a carbon footprint that is likely a factor larger than the average person but overall they are a consist of a fraction of the population. You could eliminate every single Uber rich person and we still would be emitting nearly the same level of GHGs.

I want to point out that the average person in Western society has a carbon footprint a factor larger that that of the average person in say China or India. And we only make up about 20 percent of the population.

Point being if we point the finger at industry that is making products we consume, then it is a certainty global warming will only increase. The only way we can tackle this is if the average person significantly reduces our consumption. Doubling fuel prices thru taxes would be a good start. Good luck with that though. People in the US went nuts when gas hit 5 dollars a gallon last year.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

It is not like those companies do their best to pollute the least amount possible.

No, they rather blame the consumer and tell us we need to recycle than cut into their own profits.

And recycling is important, but reusing and reducing are a lot more important. But those are parts corporations need to adhere to, so it is a lot less popular for some reason.