Dirty Coal in the News

Washington Post article recently commented:

... Chinese power plants will produce about 3.1 billion tons of CO2 this year, up from about 2.3 billion tons in 2007. U.S. power plants are expected to produce about 2.8 billion tons of CO2 this year, about the same as last year.

Before we point fingers at China, and smugly refuse to consider our personal consumption because of China's consumption, this single statement seems worthy of note:

The United States also spews more carbon dioxide per person than other nations. Electricity usage here produces about 9.5 tons of CO2 per person, compared with 2.4 tons per person in China, 0.6 in India and 0.1 in Brazil, the report said.

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Among the list of hazards caused by increasing use of coal is environmental mercury contamination, but Carbon Monitoring for Action offers a worldwide breakdown of carbon that's worthy of review.

Maybe it's time to do something about personal consumption.