U.S. is Not the Polluter the Greens Claim

The Pacific Research Institute just released their 2008 Environmental Index which they claim debunks the myth that the U.S. lags Europe in our environmental friendliness. The following are a few excerpts from their report.

Here's an excerpt from their press release:

The 2008 Index also provides new analysis in practical terms on the widespread call for an 80 percent reduction in C02 emissions in the United States by the year 2050. “The enthusiasm for this target is often justified on the general grounds that national policy should set an ambitious goal,” Dr. Hayward, said. “Our analysis shows the stark unreality of what this goal means for the lifestyles of Americans. In the absence of some truly revolutionary breakthroughs in energy technology that are wholly speculative at this point, achieving the 80 percent target will mean no hot water, no refrigerators, and no air conditioning, never mind flat screen TVs.”

• The United States last emitted CO2 at this level in the year 1910, when the population was only 92 million. By 2050, the United States will have 420 million people, requiring a per-capita emissions rate not seen in the nation since 1875.
• To achieve the 80-percent reduction target in 2050, the U.S. per-capita emissions will have to be less than 2.5 tons (down from approximately 20 tons today). The only nations today that have GHG emissions that low are desperately poor nations, such as Haiti and Somalia. Even France and Switzerland, the two industrialized nations with the lowest use of fossil-fuel energy sources, emit about 6.5 tons of C02 per capita.
• Automobile fuel consumption will have to fall by more than 80 percent. Unless gasoline can be replaced with carbon-free fuel, American drivers will have to switch to high-mileage cars (likely small and lightweight cars) and cut their amount of driving by more than half.
• Unless there is a genuine breakthrough in carbon-free electricity, households will not be able to use enough electricity to run a hot-water heater without exceeding the 2.5 tons per-capita emissions ceiling. Forget flat-screen TVs, air conditioning, and refrigerators.

“The 80 percent reduction target is unrealistic at any price, akin to King Canute commanding the tides, or the equivalent of John F. Kennedy pledging the nation in 1961 to land a man on Mars by the year 1970,” Dr. Hayward said.