Comments on: Australians Are the Worst Polluters in the World http://inhabitat.com/australians-are-the-worst-polluters-in-the-world/ Green design & eco innovation for a better world Sun, 19 May 2013 18:10:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: stefano http://inhabitat.com/australians-are-the-worst-polluters-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-261057 stefano Thu, 30 Sep 2010 01:08:14 +0000 http://www.inhabitat.com/?p=61081#comment-261057 You cannot classify Australia as the most polluting country, calculating the "per capita" quantity of green house emissions; of course, we are a highly civilized and developed country; others, simply don't! The solution to global warming, IS to lower emissions; BUT, even if ALL 21 millions Australians would go green instant;y tomorrow, there would be still some other Billions of people polluting the earth. What would be the solution then? A global effort, of course! But, countries such as India, China (and the U.S.) will never give up their right to develop; yes, they do have that right, but, unfortunately, in the "development" theater there are no seats anymore. They have all been taken by other countries, that have got there first. It's not fair? Yes, it's not fair, but that's how it is. See, this planet is like a boat; there is only so much space; you put too much people on it, and it WILL sink, I promise you. "Developing" countries should be wise enough to wait until the problem is worked out; but they will NEVER wait. The solution to global warming is to make them understand that they DO have that right, just now now. Otherwise, we all die. Cheers, Stefano. You cannot classify Australia as the most polluting country, calculating the “per capita” quantity of green house emissions; of course, we are a highly civilized and developed country; others, simply don’t!

The solution to global warming, IS to lower emissions; BUT, even if ALL 21 millions Australians would go green instant;y tomorrow, there would be still some other Billions of people polluting the earth.

What would be the solution then?
A global effort, of course!
But, countries such as India, China (and the U.S.) will never give up their right to develop; yes, they do have that right, but, unfortunately, in the “development” theater there are no seats anymore. They have all been taken by other countries, that have got there first.

It’s not fair? Yes, it’s not fair, but that’s how it is.

See, this planet is like a boat; there is only so much space; you put too much people on it, and it WILL sink, I promise you.

“Developing” countries should be wise enough to wait until the problem is worked out; but they will NEVER wait.

The solution to global warming is to make them understand that they DO have that right, just now now. Otherwise, we all die.

Cheers, Stefano.

]]> By: matthewbrunswick http://inhabitat.com/australians-are-the-worst-polluters-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-194517 matthewbrunswick Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:35:13 +0000 http://www.inhabitat.com/?p=61081#comment-194517 I also live in Australia, and I know that in Victoria, in the colder south, most houses have almost no insulation, and don't have gas heating, instead relying on electric heating, even in recent buildings. However electricity is very cheap, because coal is. In the summer air conditioning is used excessively to off set buildings lack of insulation. Most of Australias population are concentrated in the cities, more so than almost any other country excluding city states like Singapore. However due to progessively larger residential blocks, suburbs have spread massively, leading to reliance on cars (V6 or V8 commonly) to commute, rather than public transport. I can only hope that knowing we're top per capita, with the money, technology, education levels - the ability to sort it out, will spur Australians to reduce their footprints. I also live in Australia, and I know that in Victoria, in the colder south, most houses have almost no insulation, and don’t have gas heating, instead relying on electric heating, even in recent buildings. However electricity is very cheap, because coal is. In the summer air conditioning is used excessively to off set buildings lack of insulation.

Most of Australias population are concentrated in the cities, more so than almost any other country excluding city states like Singapore. However due to progessively larger residential blocks, suburbs have spread massively, leading to reliance on cars (V6 or V8 commonly) to commute, rather than public transport.

I can only hope that knowing we’re top per capita, with the money, technology, education levels – the ability to sort it out, will spur Australians to reduce their footprints.

]]> By: desertshiela http://inhabitat.com/australians-are-the-worst-polluters-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-194485 desertshiela Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:27:07 +0000 http://www.inhabitat.com/?p=61081#comment-194485 As an Aussie this news saddens me. Part of the problem is that we have a comparatively small population spread over a vast geography (21M over 7.6M sq km compared to 305M over 9M sq km in the US). The scale of logistics is staggering!!! Just imagine how much energy is required to move food, people, electricity and other goods between communities, which are largely concentrated around the coast. I could also argue over the label 'worst polluters in the world' (I know this is not an Inhabitat label) when it's based on a per capita average. Is this figure reliable when China produces over 20x the total carbon emissions of Australia? Suddenly Australia doesn't look so bad. This game of ranking nations according to their carbon output is really just an excuse to point the finger and is not moving us any closer to a solution. We all, as humans on this earth, rely on fossil fuels for energy. So until we can develop new technologies which will wean us off our diet of fossil fuels, this political game is pointless. As an Aussie this news saddens me. Part of the problem is that we have a comparatively small population spread over a vast geography (21M over 7.6M sq km compared to 305M over 9M sq km in the US). The scale of logistics is staggering!!! Just imagine how much energy is required to move food, people, electricity and other goods between communities, which are largely concentrated around the coast.

I could also argue over the label ‘worst polluters in the world’ (I know this is not an Inhabitat label) when it’s based on a per capita average. Is this figure reliable when China produces over 20x the total carbon emissions of Australia? Suddenly Australia doesn’t look so bad.

This game of ranking nations according to their carbon output is really just an excuse to point the finger and is not moving us any closer to a solution. We all, as humans on this earth, rely on fossil fuels for energy. So until we can develop new technologies which will wean us off our diet of fossil fuels, this political game is pointless.

]]> By: SamLowry http://inhabitat.com/australians-are-the-worst-polluters-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-194291 SamLowry Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:55:40 +0000 http://www.inhabitat.com/?p=61081#comment-194291 Woo! We're number 1! Woo! We’re number 1!

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