Comments on: Class Worrier

Class Worrier

ilovemytoaster — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:33:04 -0800

Bill Gates - 10,000,000; Vegetarian student - 300. Carbon Footprint of different lifestyles.

Scores for "global warming potential" from study at MIT. link to PDF. Data from 1997. If you like to have your information further digested for you, there's this. from the MIT Study: "even the most modest life styles have impacts much larger that[sic] the world average." "due to the combined effects of subsidies and rebound, the magnitude of possible reductions in energy use for people in the United States by voluntary changes in spending patterns appears limited." so that's one vote for a carbon tax, methinks. more on the rabbit hole that is Carbon Footprint. Also, it's 2013. Do you know where your Polar Ice cap is?

By: brain_drain

brain_drain — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:37:11 -0800

I blame your toaster.

By: gagglezoomer

gagglezoomer — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:39:25 -0800

I'm glad they through Oprah in there too. I always hated her for telling her viewers ways they could be more "green" on her show. What a hypocrite!

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:40:01 -0800

The winters will be nicer, and in the summer, we can commute to work on sailboats. What's not to like?

By: TwelveTwo

TwelveTwo — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:45:19 -0800

Are you saying we should go to war with foreign carbon emissions?

By: setanor

setanor — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:45:25 -0800

It is becoming more and more clear that these figures are useless without context, something that never seems to accompany them.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:47:34 -0800

Godzilla - 2,000,000,000,000

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:52:13 -0800

Cannabalistic students, on the other hand (and foot, and rib), eventually have a negative carbon footprint.

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:52:13 -0800

I think it's only right and proper that we emphasis the culpability and indeed lay the blame squarely at the feet of the lifestyles of ordinary individuals who patently have pushed for unsustainable ways of life, rather that governments and corporations who were entirely powerless to avoid our present situation.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:54:14 -0800

Cannabalistic students, on the other hand (and foot, and rib), eventually have a negative carbon footprint. It's really our only hope for a sustainable future.

By: tracert

tracert — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:56:49 -0800

Godzilla - 2,000,000,000,000 Wait wait wait. Are you saying that in addition to wrecking cities, repeatedly tearing down power lines, and generally destroying all monsters, Godzilla also produces deadly carbon dioxide gas? Foul sea creature! He must be eliminated.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:57:10 -0800

I think they wrote the headline first, and then designed the study around it.

By: ilovemytoaster

ilovemytoaster — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:00:10 -0800

setanor - it's a study. the value generated in the study is the context of the other observations (so you could repeat the study with similar results, for a different data year and even track results year over year). or, the context is 'oprah versus student'. 'soccer mom versus monk,' if you like to think of it in conflict terms.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:00:44 -0800

Wait wait wait. Are you saying that in addition to wrecking cities, repeatedly tearing down power lines, and generally destroying all monsters, Godzilla also produces deadly carbon dioxide gas? Well, after eating Mexico City, Texas, and Tijuana, he released a lot of methane.

By: nitsuj

nitsuj — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:02:39 -0800

I wonder how much inadvertently opening a PDF -- without warning -- increased my carbon footprint?

By: Huck500

Huck500 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:03:31 -0800

Seems obvious to me... those coma patients are sucking up our resources, and they're not producing a damn thing.

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:05:29 -0800

"I travel so much now, and every time I have the itch to be in nature, it's $500, $600 to get out of town for the weekend. I travel at the drop of a hat. If I have a bad day, I just literally go on Expedia. Or I'll be invited to a party in San Francisco and think, What am I saving my money for anyway? We're all going to die from global warming. And I just book it." From Toronto Life's (nauseating) "Money Issue."

By: setanor

setanor — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:12:06 -0800

ilovemytoaster- i suppose i do understand that context, but it doesn't seem very useful. why not, for example, take into account how much bill gates' social investments have mitigated his footprint, or how little our vegetarian student has been able to contribute to anything on accord of his whinnying addiction to local protest culture.

By: HighTechUnderpants

HighTechUnderpants — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:15:38 -0800

Nauseating indeed. That was pretty awful to read.

By: Class Goat

Class Goat — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:18:56 -0800

I bet Al Gore has an even higher score than Bill Gates. (Gates doesn't travel as much.)

By: klanawa

klanawa — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:23:49 -0800

jesus, where did they find such sociopaths? i thought i left that behind in LA.

By: klanawa

klanawa — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:24:13 -0800

referring to card cheat's link, of course...

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:28:50 -0800

I bet Al Gore has an even higher score than Bill Gates. Only because of Al's second career in Modern Interpretive Dance.

By: jb

jb — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:36:58 -0800

(slight derail - that Toronto Life article is so skewed to the rich that it is nauseating. 250k for a couple as "comfortable" in Toronto? That's not comfortable - that's in the top few percentile for the nation - as they point out to each other in the article, but then go on to talk about that as if it's normal. Median household income is more like $60,000 - found by googling "median income Toronto", which the Toronto Life reporter was apparently incapable of doing. How about a money issue about how the VAST MAJORITY of people live? Interestingly, "In Toronto, the lowest 10% had an average of $9,600 while those in the highest 10% had an average of $261,000. The average income of the top 10% was higher in Toronto than in any other city in the country".)

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:51:53 -0800

Another slight derail - ~~that~~ Toronto Life ~~article~~ is so skewed to the rich that it is nauseating. Back when I was attempting to make a go of it as a freelance writer, I read TL regularly because I figured - being a T.O. resident and all - they'd be one of the best mags for me to make pitches to. But by the time I made it through to the end of each smug, entitled, fatuous issue I was typically too pissed off to come up with any ideas. Their recent "Baby Wars" feature was particularly sick-making; by the end of the issue (which I read in a doctor's office) I hated everyone on both sides of the issue.

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:53:04 -0800

Previous comment flagged for excessive use of the word "issue". Now you know why I never made it as a writer.

By: sour cream

sour cream — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:05:37 -0800

But if you divide carbon emissions by disposable income, you'll see that Bill Gates is much less of an energy hog per dollar earned than your average shmoe -- or coma patient. Take that, Buddhist monks!

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:08:05 -0800

Jesus, I just want to beat the people in the Toronto Life article so bad. And I'm not generally a violent person.

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:09:28 -0800

What's not to like? The heat! My god, the heat!

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:35:20 -0800

Bill Gates - 10,000,000; Vegetarian student - 300. OK, so what's the score for the following: "Vegetarian student using dorm room hot plate to heat up organic vegan ramen noodles purchased at Whole Foods -- reached via 2-stroke, oil-burning Vespa -- while simultaneously surfing via 24-hour broadband access provided by parentally funded university and watching episodes of Naruto on the Cartoon Network at 2 a.m."

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:39:57 -0800

tracert writes "Wait wait wait. Are you saying that in addition to wrecking cities, repeatedly tearing down power lines, and generally destroying all monsters, Godzilla also produces deadly carbon dioxide gas? Foul sea creature! He must be eliminated." No, no, no. See, Godzilla already battled that monster, Hedorah, or Smog Monster. Here's an historical account. Highly recommended.

By: bad grammar

bad grammar — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:40:25 -0800

I was never CEO material and never will be, but I'm happy not to be a soccer mom. Eventually, we'll probably adopt The Matrix solution: put everyone under (thus in actuality occupying the carbon footprint of coma patients) while they undergo immersion in a Virtual Earth in which everyone can lead an American lifestyle without worrying about where the extra four planets are coming from.

By: Tehanu

Tehanu — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:53:42 -0800

Bill Gates : average American :: average American : most of the rest of the world.

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:53:40 -0800

You know, this is precisely the kind of analysis that makes me think, "Well, I'm a 42-year-old smoker with no kids and none of this means shit to me because I'll be dead in 20 years so fuck this planet and all you people on it!" and toss a cigarette butt out the window of my Prius.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:58:59 -0800

Hey, speaking of the ultra-wealthy, it seems that they're now earning 16% of GDP in the USA, double the chunk they got in 1980. Seems pretty wild that such a tiny minority of people should take such a large part of the economy.

By: wendell

wendell — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:25:54 -0800

The Card Cheat, that's why I say I do not have "issues", I have "lifetime subscriptions".

By: nightchrome

nightchrome — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:34:33 -0800

This obsession over carbon is getting out of hand.

By: JimInLoganSquare

JimInLoganSquare — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:08:08 -0800

I stopped reading at the typo in the abstract.

By: octobersurprise

octobersurprise — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:42:30 -0800

Cannabalistic students, on the other hand Bill's probably a little gamey.

By: b1tr0t

b1tr0t — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:03:46 -0800

Seems pretty wild that such a tiny minority of people should take such a large part of the economy. It seems pretty wild that Microsoft's market cap is bigger than the combined market cap of the top five or so defense companies. Maybe they are creating an enormous amount of value?

By: rr

rr — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:06:35 -0800

Is it snarky to point out that the vegetarian student is at a different life phase? More likely than not he|she will be supporting an SUV-driving soccer mom|dad after aging a bit and selling out.

By: b1tr0t

b1tr0t — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:09:36 -0800

Don't forget that Mr. Gates is actively trying to stamp out disease in the third world. That can't be good for his carbon footprint. (all those extra mouthes to feed)

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:43:36 -0800

Quite frankly, stamping out disease is only going to result in mass starvation. What this world really needs is free birth control worldwide, if not mass sterilization.

By: davejay

davejay — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:54:02 -0800

...if not mass sterilization. I was going to pay some bills, but now I'm kind of hoping the popcorn can come out. although popping it will raise my carbon footprint

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:00:06 -0800

Eh? You think what I said was somehow controversial? Go do some reading about mass starvation in China. They lost 30 million people during the great famine, and have lost tens of millions to starvation in recent years. Which why they instituted the one-child policy. It might not be mass sterilization as such, but certainly the next closest thing. The UN is estimating 1.5 billion people are going to face starvation in the near future. Wiping out disease is only going to shift deaths from one cause to another. Instead of dying from malaria or HIV, the world's poor will drop dead of starvation. Mass starvation occurs because too many people live in places that simply can not support mass populations. Either the population is reduced through starvation, or people need to quit having children in those areas. It sucks, but it's reality.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:02:10 -0800

Also, you really should go pay your bills. Have some guilt-free popcorn while you're at it: I didn't make any tonight, so that should offset things.

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:12:52 -0800

I don't care about my carbon footprint. I care about your carbon footprint. Because I'm pretty sure you're bad for the environment.

By: jb

jb — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:04:33 -0800

Current starvation is not about resources -- nor was China's starvation during the Great Leap Forward. At the same time as the Great Leap Forward, India faced the same severe drought, but didn't have the same level of disaster. It's about the use and distribution of resources.

By: russilwvong

russilwvong — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:40:34 -0800

See Amartya Sen. Famines occur because people don't have money to buy food, not because there isn't enough food. Michael Massing, Does Democracy Avert Famine?

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:46:46 -0800

Of course it's about distribution of resources. It has always been about distribution of resources. We (humanity) have never distributed resources well enough and I doubt we ever will. Certainly curing diseases without also solving the resource distribution problem is simply going to result in people dying of starvation instead of dying of diseases.