Rich people have a carbon footprint 25 times the size of even the typical American. To tackle climate change, we need to start with fossil capital and the most affluent.

It may well be the case that fighting climate change will require middle-class and even working-class people in wealthy countries to change their lifestyles in the decades ahead. Given, however, the extent to which the rich are disproportionately responsible for global emissions, and the widespread public consensus around raising their taxes, it would be both politically popular and sound policy-wise to emphasize redistributive solutions to the climate crisis.

  • @ttmrichter
    4•2 years ago

    I’ve been doing that comparison for ages now. The bottom 50% of Americans are more wasteful than the top 10% of five nations. The American average is more wasteful than the top 10% of ten nations. The USA is almost repulsive in how much it emits … doubly so because Americans tend, too, to be the preachiest about emissions to other nations.