Inequality
“buy more goods,
own more cars,
have larger houses
that take more energy to heat and cool.”
And spend more time flying.
“ Consuming…is akin to polluting.”
“The wealthy bear the greatest responsibility.”
"Climate policies should target wealthy polluters.”
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So let’s blame the “rich”? Fair enough, but who is “rich” actually?
Could it be yourself?
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The "top 50%" of income earners (USA) receive more than $41,740 annually.
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"Middle-income" (world population) is between $15k and $30,000 per year.
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Many white (USA) households get more than $100,000 yearly.
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While non-white US households average under $20k.
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"An income of $38,000 is enough to put someone in the world's richest 10%."
“We feel some angst over the disconnect between how we wish to see ourselves versus how we really are.”
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"The annual [USA] income for farmworkers’ families usually does
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not exceed $24,500.”
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“This...increases pressure on farmworkers to endure exploitive
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and dangerous heat conditions."
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"Black and Latino people...are disproportionately burdened with air
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pollution in the USA."
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“Black Americans...are 3 times as likely to die from asthma.”
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"Indigenous populations are suffering." In Alaska, the worsening weather
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"exacerbates existing social problems, including food security,
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overcrowded housing and struggles with mental health and addiction."
"As the earth warms...more air-conditioning is needed...[but] most people are too poor to afford" it.
"We are on track for...a catastrophe...visited primarily upon the world’s poor by the world’s rich."
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In our Twenty-First Century post-modern world,
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almost one billion people don't have electricity.
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DOUBLE that number don't have access to
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I take these things for granted; don’t you?
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"The effect of pollution is radically oriented toward harming the poor and deprived."
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"The poor 'live in neighborhoods with the greatest exposure to...extreme weather events'.”
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“Low-income...minority communities are...particularly vulnerable to the effects of air pollution."
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“Global warming is likely to make poor parts of the world even poorer.”
"We [shouldn't be] more concerned with generating profits than saving people,”
Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley (March 2022).