Should we feel guilty?

Question

We comprise about 4.5% of the world's population, yet we use between 40 and 50% of the world's resources, and are responsible for 25% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

Do you think we should do something about this?

Mattinhouston: You don't get it do you? That's not 40% of what the world uses, it's 40% of what is available, and it means that the remaining 95.5% of the world have to make do with what's left. We would need 100s of planet Earths for everyone to live at the same level as the US.
Many natural resources, such as minerals, oil and gas are finite. When they're gone, there will be no more.

Leogirl08: You don't think 25% is too much when you only have 300 million people?
That means that the other 6.2 billion people produce the other 75%. Wow, how awful of them!

J.J. It's no use pointing the finger at others. The USA is the biggest polluter on the planet, bigger than India, worse than China.
The USA uses more resources in proportion to it's population than any other country in the world.

Answer 1

Feeling Guilty won't do us any good. We must take positive action outlined by the Kyoto Protocols.

The "debate" about global warming is over among serious scientists. The only holdouts are Exxon, Shell, BP etc.

Answer 2

We? I thought you were Canadian. Is your nation anymore Conservative with its national resources? I think not. Canada does a great job extracting and exploiting it forests, ores and petroleum reserves. How environmental friendly is your diamond mining techniques?

Realistically, North America can only marginally curb it consumption. As far as reducing fossil fuel use, every barrel of oil we pass up on the world market will be purchased by China. Put the Anne Rice Novel down and pick up a copy of the "Economist." When it comes to destroying the environment, Asia is re-writing the book. Controlling greenhouse gases in North America and Western Europe will only be marginally effective. Third world countries will continue to belch out pollutants.
We tried the lifestyle changes in the 60's with Communes and the Kibbutzes. No one liked the deprivation for the sake of the environment back then and definitely not today.

Answer 3

We have continuously reduced our emissions. More than other countries in fact. Some countries have actually increased theirs. We need to do this intelligently. We can't go to the maximum on this as our Seniors and other limited income people would not be able to afford to heat their homes. There is a balance that much be achieved. China has no environmental laws or standards at all. That does not make it right, but let's be a little more fair and realistic. We are only 25% as you say. There is the other 75% to consider.

Answer 4

Not until we have other issues under control. I am not in favor of making changes that will "improve the environment" with an "at any cost" attitude.

Presently, considering the world's general attitude, I dont feel that any countries are giving the issue any priority until the Iraq/North Korea/Iran/Israel issues are dealt with and/or diffused. If you would like to do something about it, then feel free, however I feel no need to increase my personal expenses to allow someone else to increase their emissions somewhere else.

Part of the problem with the question is that I have heard that countries that are under the limits of what emissions they are allowed can and often do sell the "surplus" to other countries. Chances are, the United States of America is doing that just as other industrialized countries are, so what is the real problem?

Answer 5

Are you kidding? No, I do not feel the least bit guilty!

Could we use some of these things smarter? Of course.

When you are the most prosperous and wealthy country, you are able to afford and need to use more resources.

It has not been proved that "greenhouse gasses" do any harm. In theory it sounds reasonable, but there is no proof. Pollution standards in business and industry have been lowered in the recent past.

Answer 6

Most definitely. That is the idea of america. To do something about this problem we must each make a personal decision to change the way we live our lives.

Answer 7

Yes, we should do something about it. We're not using enough resources.

That's an idiotic statistic because it ignores the fact that the US uses that energy to be the world's most productive nation. Just a tired, old, recycled line from a bunch of wannabe Communists.

Answer 8

The Con-jobs already have a solution: they don't listen. Stick your fingers in your ears and say, "IcanthearyouLalalalalala."

Unfortunately, until they wake up, they're going to derail any efforts to get things back on track.

Answer 9

We only consume about 1/3 of our food and import more than 50% of our non-edible items. (toys, furniture, etc)

So no. since we support almost half of the world I don't feel bad at all

Answer 10

We can all do things to decrease consumption:

~Carpool
~Decrease disposable waste: syrofoam plates, cups, plastic fork (washing dishes never killed anyone)
~Shorter showers, toilets that use less water per flush
~Recycle