i have been working in China for about 6 weeks, with one week to go.
my job takes me all over the world and my home, the USA.
being the curious sort i am, i thought “what is the per capita carbon production between the USA and the PRC”.
being in China i had to rely on Bing.
the USA produced 8 gigatons in 2022.
the PRC produced 15 gigatons in 2022.
but on a per capita basis, the Chinese produced ½ the carbon per person.
i have never ridden in a pure EV vehicle in the USA.
out of the 25 taxi rides, ¾ were pure EV.
electric scooters, motorcycles and 3 wheeled delivery vehicles out number liquid fuel vehicles.
the majority of the bus systems, in most of the 8 cities i have been in, are pure electric.
i have ridden on many high speed electric trains, doing 300kph.
you do see a lot of single family dwellings until you get away from the larger cities.
but most have solar hot water collectors on the roofs.
even the majority of 3 or 4 story apartment buildings are covered with them.
if Carter would have won 1980, the USA may have looked the same today.
the lack of PV panels kind of surprised me.
flying over many cities you see about the same as you would over my home, Portland Oregon.
i was also surprised about the lack of wind generation.
until a few train trips ago. i guess the Chinese have not had the chance to utilize some of the areas i have seen that would be perfect for wind generation.
but slow and steady wins the race, sez the turtle.
so when you hear a conservative bellyache about doing something about climate change will hurt the USA economy and blame China for producing more carbon, remember that China is doing more to reduce their emissions. and if the USA does not step up, all of our lunches will be ate.
the USA will defeat China along with defeating the USA, along with everything and everyone else on the planet.
as a planet, we are at a point of loosing it all. too many countries want slow and steady, but have done nothing for too long. drastic measures need to be made now. then maybe when my life ends in about 10 years, my kids and grandkids will have a chance to not live in a hellhole.
end of rant.
almost.
edit.
i do not have the time to read all the replies.
but the ones that call the “per capita” argument a non-issue needs to think of this.
farting cows emit a lot of methane. so do farting people.
so its all the Mexicans fault for eating so many bean based foods…. and not building the “Rump wall”, like the previous guy promised. and paying for it. :)
