We Can End Global Warming by Rejecting all Products from Countries w/no Environmental Standards

[RepublicansRZombies]

This, in fact, is the only way we are going to stop the pollution.

What difference does it make to implement a carbon tax here when we are purchasing all of our goods from countries with no environmental standards?

Al Gore, who is now criticizing Obama, needs to be asked about this. He pushed for the free trade agreements which have done far more damage to our environment than not passing a carbon tax.

News stories reported last week, CO2 is DOWN in the US, and UP in China- because they are producing all of our goods.

How can we continue to pretend we care about global warming with such brazen hypocrisy?

When we demand an end to 'free' trade, implement standards on the goods that we purchase, we will not only stop global warming, we'll bring our jobs back as well which might just help the economy as there will be more people paying taxes and not needing help from the government.

'Free' trade agreements are not free. They have ruined our economy and are polluting the planet.

[RepublicansRZombies]

2. yes. if I would just take my xanax and pay my carbon tax-everything will be just fine

nt

[Romulox]

3. Nope. The idea is massive cutbacks here, but China gets to "catch up" for a 100 years or so...

Also, you have to pay Al Gore for some reason.

None of this improves global warming in any way, of course.

[AldoLeopold]

4. Meh

You'll have to explain this to me. I'm not quite on the bandwagon.

We can't really end global warming at this point - its happening and it will continue to happen for the forseeable future. But, I don't want to be snippy - haven't had all my coffee yet this morning.

I think these sorts of things like carbon taxes, etc., are good first stepping stones - and may even lead to different thinking about fossil fuels if they become to expensive to utilize.

[RepublicansRZombies]

5. Isn't it sort of hypocritical and useless to pretend we are dealing with the problem

when we keep buying all of our products from China?

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. You seem to believe the US is "dealing with the problem" in any sense at all

It's not. The emissions from inside the US are still far too high, even without thinking about the carbon content of imported manufactured goods. World emissions are too high; but US ones are even higher.

2011:
World: 4.90 tonnes per capita
USA: 17.30 tonnes per capita
http://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/overview.php?v=CO2ts_pc1990-2011

[AldoLeopold]

10. Yep

We're going to have to do something crazy like sign the Kyoto Protocol or do something to join the rest of the world before we have any moral authority at all. We have none - certainly not as China's biggest trading "partner."

Then, I propose, should we sign such a treaty, that we simply start either warring with or embargoing rampant CO2 producers. Its just that simple. Probably.

[Recursion]

6. We still manufacture more than China. And we manufacture more than we ever have in history

We just do it with fewer and fewer workers and lower CO2 emissions. In a sane economy, that would be a great thing; in ours, it leads to employment problems.

As you point out, our emissions are down, because we are developing cleaner and more efficient ways to manufacture goods, and those technologies and methods will filter out to the rest of the world over time (Chinese manufacturers also want to save money on energy costs, if nothing else.)

[antigone382]

7. As a nation China produces more CO2, but we're still number 1 in per capita emissions.

To a degree I agree that our wasteful purchasing of cheap and energy intensive products that are shipped internationally is a major contributor of greenhouse gases. But even without that we still consume vast and unsustainable amounts of energy in our daily lives, thereby producing vast and unsustainable amounts of pollution and waste. If those manufacturing industries were brought back here they would still produce a tremendous amount of CO2 because *nobody,* including the United States, properly regulates CO2.

All that aside, I agree that free trade agreements are destructive to economies around the world, and beneficial mostly to the very rich.

[Speck Tater]

8. We can start by not eating food that's produced, ... uh, ... anywhere.

And when we all starve to death our carbon footprint will be reduced drastically. That's actually a pretty good pan!