Frequently Asked Questions
‘What if I can’t do all the pollution Solutions?’
Everyone creates some pollution. Cut out the most you can, as soon as you can; stick with the footprint calculators, and tackle the big stuff first.
Meanwhile, don’t forget to appreciate all the wonders of the world we’ve been blessed with.
‘Forget individuals; what about the corporations?’
100 organizations “have accounted for more than 71 percent of all global ghg emissions since 1988.”
When business leaders talk to investors, they speak of consumer ‘demand’ as a guide to how much profit the company expects to make. ‘Demand’ means how much money you give them - by spending $ on their products.
“We need to stand up to fossil fuel companies, and the stock markets that support them.”
“When you purchase something from a company, you are…[telling them] to continue doing what [they’re] doing.”
'How much pollution do I make compared to other people?
The typical African resident creates, on average, 4.5 tons of ghg pollution per year. The average European, or Japanese, citizen makes about 9 tons annually; the average American - close to 18 tons per year.
The biggest citizen polluters (per capita, by nationality) are in Australia, Saudi Arabia, the USA and Canada.
“Carbon Footprint Of Best Conserving Americans Is Still Double Global Average”
‘How much will it cost?’
Some Solutions are free; some aren’t. Take on whatever you can afford.
It doesn’t cost any money to quit eating beef, or to stop flying. To get cash for an electric car, sell your gasoline car. Birth control is inexpensive; quitting smoking costs nothing…
‘Have any climate scientists tried to do something like this?’
Kevin Anderson: "Hopefully…people [will] say, ‘We…can make those sorts of changes’.”
It’s not right “to call for radical change by others but not ourselves”.
Kimberly Nicholas: “Nicholas has…cut her air travel emissions by 90 percent…She has also stopped eating meat and gone car-free…she [wrote] a paper on individual behavioral changes.”
Peter Kalmus: “Until recently I drove cars and flew in airplanes without realizing their harmful consequences.”
‘If polysilicon for some solar panels is made in Chinese concentration camps, and cobalt for EV batteries is being mined by hand by children in the Congo, how are the Solutions supposed to help?’
Look Beyond the Boycott. Individuals, individually, are not going to do the trick. Churches, communities, and corporations have to take part. Help make it happen. No more “goals”, “road-maps”, or “by 2050 plans”.
Use your own boycott success as a way to spread the enthusiasm.
Individuals can’t ban polysilicon products from Xinjiang, or revamp the electric grid, but the US government can.
Corporations can respond to public pressure. Some have started using EV batteries with no cobalt, for example.
The way the Solutions can influence neighbors or governments is similar to voting. Lots of votes lead to changes.
Get out and motivate people just like you would for an election!
When others see, or hear about, what you’re doing, they’ll notice - especially people who trust you.