In the run up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen later this year, you are going to be bombarded with statistics like they are going out of style. This is in an effort to win your hearts and minds and make you believe that something positive will actually result from this conference.
One thing that will be quite heavily promoted is the amount of CO2 emissions per capita head.
Both sides will use the argument, but for different reasons.
For those of living in the Western World, those already Developed Countries, it will be used in the form of an accusing finger. You will be told that per capita head, those people living in the Western World have the largest emissions per capita head than those who live in those less developed Countries.
What they are not telling you however, is that there is not a level playing field. In the West, those Countries have access to a reliable and constantly available source of electrical power. One third of all emissions come from this sector, mainly from coal fired power plants. The remainder comes from a level of Industrialisation that we accept as part of our way of living.
Those still Developing Countries do not have that access to electrical power and do not have much in the way of an Industrialised economy.
So naturally, those of us who do live in the West would have a high level of emissions, when extrapolated down to a per capita basis.
On the other side, those developing Countries will quietly say that their per capita emissions when compared to those in the West are very low, and therefore, any talk of their cutting back on emissions would seem hypocritical, as our emissions are so high.
See the point there?
When you ask yourself the question, or when an environmentalist puts the argument to you, keep this right in the forefront of your mind.
China. Population 1.3 Billion people.
India. Population 1.15 Billion.
United States. Population 305 Million.
So, those other two Countries especially, are, by the very nature of the level of their population going to have considerably lower per capita emissions than those of us who do live in the West, with four times as many people as in the U.S.
Europe, the US, Australia, and other already developed Countries, even though their populations are dissimilar, have roughly the same per capita emissions, when it is worked out, so, effectively, that ‘big stick’ can be pointed at them all, as that accusing green finger.
So, when that green finger is pointed at you in an effort to make you feel guilty, point that finger directly back at them, and tell them exactly how cruel, heartless and callous they are being, not by their bogus use of what seems a simple statistic, but by not being aware that almost one billion people living in China have no access whatsoever to any electrical power. The same number applies for India, and also to the remainder of the rest of the non Developed World.
For the sake of trying to look green and doing something for the environment, they, in effect are consigning those billions of people to remain in the most abject poverty. Ask them if they would prefer to live like that.
No, the per capita CO2 emissions argument is bogus.
See if that stops them from using it.
No chance.
As I mentioned, the emissions from the generation of electrical power makes up only one third of the total emissions, China has recently surpassed the U.S. as the largest emitter of CO2 on Planet Earth. China only produces 80 to 85% of the electrical power that the U.S. does, and yet barely 8% goes to the residential sector, compared to 38% in the U.S. and also in the rest of the already Developed World.
However, China’s current ratio of production sees their current power production coming from coal at a greater percentage than that of the U.S. which stands at just on 50%. The remainder of emissions in China comes from that level of Industrialisation as they rapidly try to do just that ….. Industrialise.
Large Companies from all across the Planet are shifting production to China where Labor, and materials are just so cheap, and the huge population sees that labor force as also being quite huge. So things that will always sell for the same price in the West can now be manufactured at a fraction of the cost.
For a further insight on that, take the link to this post from last year, during the Beijing Olympic Games.
Per capita CO2 emissions is a bogus argument from people who have an entirely different agenda.
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