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The American Exception

by TSB Report
February 28, 2023
in Climate
Reading Time: 6 mins read
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Climate change may be a global problem. But we are not all the same. Far from it.

The wealthier we are, the more climate pollution we produce, because of how much electricity we consume, what we eat, and how much we drive. But it’s not just wealth. It matters a lot in which country we are wealthy.

Take a look below at this chart that my colleague Mira Rojanasakul prepared based on an International Energy Agency analysis of per capita carbon dioxide emissions by income.

You will see the wealthiest people in the United States have an astonishingly large climate footprint, far larger than rich people in wealthy, industrialized Europe and in fast-rising China.

Not only that: Nearly everyone in the United States, even those in the lowest income brackets, produces a lot of climate pollution relative to everyone else in the world. It’s the way our economy is built. We take for granted long commutes and frequent flights. Our electricity comes from sources that are relatively carbon-intensive. The rest of the world is different.

Americans are exceptional.

I know this intuitively. I’ve reported from more than 50 countries. But seeing the spread of per capita emissions from the world’s four largest economies — the United States, the European Union, China and India — still surprised me.

The richest 10 percent of Americans, or those who make an average of $233,600 a year, produces 56.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per person, per year on average, according to the I.E.A. analysis. That’s more than double the emissions of the richest 10 percent in Europe. It’s nearly double that of the richest 10 percent of Chinese.

Everyone else in the United States has a big footprint, too, relative to their counterparts in Europe, China and India. For instance, the poorest 10 percent of Americans, those making $2,500 a year on average, have a carbon footprint that’s almost as big as everyone in India, except India’s richest 10 percent.

Likewise, the poorest 10 percent of Americans have a climate footprint larger than the poorest 30 percent of Chinese.

This is about emissions per capita. Not about total emissions.

India and China are obviously much more populous than the United States and Europe. So their small footprints add up. I get that. I wrote about the population question not long ago. But for those at the bottom, and even middle, of their class ladders, they do not produce a lot of emissions.

Inequality within countries really matters.

In China, for instance, the richest 10 percent have a footprint 33 times the size of the poorest 10 percent.

In the United States, the richest 10 percent pollute 16 times as much as the poorest 10 percent. See where you fall on this graph:

In India, the climate pollution produced by the poorest 10 percent of the population is negligible. Many of them still cook with charcoal or cow dung. They may not have access to electricity around the clock. They most certainly don’t own a car. At best, a bicycle.

This could make climate action simpler (in theory).

A small number of relatively wealthy people can make a very big difference. Most of all, in the United States. “The richest individuals have many ways to reduce their emissions,” the International Energy Agency analysis pointed out. They include individual changes and policy changes.

(Note: replacing a massive petroleum-burning car for a giant electric truck isn’t quite a silver bullet.)

And bear in mind that the so-called yacht class, the richest 0.1 percent of the population, are super polluters of another order. Their emissions are 10 times as much as the whole world’s richest 10 percent combined.

I have learned something else from going over these numbers.

I have frequently used the term “we” in writing about climate change. Are we doomed? Can we limit temperature rise to relatively safe planetary boundaries? How quickly can we wean ourselves from fossil fuels to slow down warming?

But who is we, exactly? I’m going to think harder about when I use the term. Because when it comes to our role in this profound global problem, we are not the same.


Essential news from The Times

A shrinking sea: The Salton Sea in California has long relied on runoff from croplands along the Colorado River. But drought has curtailed that flow, and the giant lake is receding fast.

Green job transitions: Oil companies have laid off thousands in recent years. Many workers have moved to the renewable energy industry.

After the storms in California: Atmospheric rivers caused severe flooding in a community of migrant farmworkers. Many will have to rebuild their lives from scratch.

Two similar earthquake zones: Researchers are analyzing the disaster in Turkey for clues about the location and potential power of the next big quake to hit California.

Lawyers pour into Ohio: Firms are signing up clients in East Palestine, the town where a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed. They have already filed more than a dozen lawsuits.

Rehab for turtles: Workers in New York State’s only sea turtle rehabilitation center are nursing a record number of sick patients. The animals may be venturing too far north.

Worrisome whale deaths: Since December, 23 whales have been found dead along the East Coast. Scientists say warming could be one of the factors.


Before you go: Kung Fu nuns smash convention

Nuns in the Himalayas have long been confined to chores like cooking and cleaning, barred from philosophical debates and other activities practiced by monks. But a sect of nuns in Nepal has been leading the charge to break gender barriers by practicing Kung Fu and, among other things, making people aware of climate change.


Thanks for being a subscriber. We’ll be back on Friday.

Manuela Andreoni, Claire O’Neill and Douglas Alteen contributed to Climate Forward. Read past editions of the newsletter here.

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