April 23, 2013
The United States emits more than twice as much greenhouse gas per person as the average for West Europe. If countries like Germany, France, and Spain emitted as much per person as the United States, there would be no point worrying about greenhouse gas emissions because the planet would be fried. The world’s emissions levels over the last three decades would be so much larger that there would be no hope of reducing emissions enough to prevent catastrophic levels of global warming.
This fact (i.e. undeniably true statement) makes the Washington Post’s lecture to Europeans about the United States being “the world leader in fighting climate change” laughable. Apparently the Washington Post thinks the United States should get big points for improvement and somehow that Europe should emulate us even if we still are emitting far more greenhouse gas per person than Europe.
No one ever accused the Washington Post of having much grasp of logic and arithmetic. After all, they are doubling down in their support of austerity even after the Reinhart & Rogoff errors had been exposed. But this one seems to be below even the Post’s incredibly low standard. Come on, we know that the Post hates Europe because they don’t give all of their money to the rich, and ordinary workers can expect to get health care and a decent retirement, but this one is really off the deep end.
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