We Are All Directly Responsible

We all know we don’t live in a perfect world. There’s no shortage of problems – injustice, violence, poverty, hunger, pollution, failing infrastructure. And that’s just to name a few. There’s a lot of debate about what factors contribute to these issues and the best way to conquer them. But then there’s climate change. Of all of society’s problems, climate change is different. And here’s why:

• We are all directly responsible: Modern society is powered by fossil fuels. The majority of our food, shelter, transportation, heating, cooking, lighting, information, communication, and entertainment is dependent on burning these fuels. It is the only major problem where every member of modern society has direct responsibility.
• We can quantify the cause: It’s easy to quantify the symptoms of many social problems, but pinpointing the cause is a lot hard. With climate change, we can pinpoint AND quantify the cause. We can measure the levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere in parts per million. These levels increase as we burn fossil fuels. Our contribution to the increased level of greenhouse gases is measured in tons of CO2 and is called our carbon footprint. You can measure your carbon footprint using tools that calculate your footprint for general use or even for something as specific as airline flights. Scientists have also been able to quantify other numbers: burning 113 gallons of gasoline produces one ton of CO2, for example. For an idea of scale, you can visualize a ton of CO2 as a balloon with a diameter of 10 yards.
• We know how to solve this problem: While many social and economic issues are often considered open to debate and politicians and businesses squabble over the best way to tackle the problem, the solution to climate change is simple and nonnegotiable: We have to stop burning fossil fuels and use energy more efficiently. The knowledge and technology needed to transition away from a fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure already exists! Since we can quantify the problem, we can put a price on the solution. The IEA put that price at a $44 trillion investment in these technologies.
• The solution pays for itself: The cost of many of these clean energy technologies is already competitive with fossil fuels in many areas. And those prices continue to decrease. The return on that IEA investment estimate of $44 trillion in keeping global temperatures from rising above 2 degrees Celsius is a whopping $115 trillion in fuels savings. Studies by the Rocky Mountain Institute and Deutsche Bank show similar results. These savings do not even factor in the cost of inaction on climate change. Tufts University estimates these costs at up to $1.9 trillion per year by 2100. Without an active campaign against climate change, it will also lead to an increased loss of life.

Without belittling any of the other problems the world faces, climate change may be the world’s most pressing issue. There’s no escape from it and as with many of other problem we face, the solution would yield multiple benefits. However, because there are fewer unknowns as far cause and solutions are concerned, and there are financial incentives, climate change could be easier to tackle many of the other problems.

If you want to be part of the solution, take action today. Carbon Xprint has developed an innovative way for you to offset your own carbon footprint – one that rewards you for making the effort!