In order to maintain a healthy environment, the corporations that create pollution should be responsible for creating a green future, not the consumers of their products.
As nations across the globe do their part to cut carbon, the United States has fallen greatly behind most industrialized nations in their effort to fight carbon.
According to data collected by Dr. Hannah Riche, the head of Research at Our World In Data, since 1911, the United States has been the largest emitter of CO2 into the atmosphere, contributing to a total of 4.16 billion tons of carbon pollution since 1750.
While looking at raw data has its drawbacks it definitely says one thing: The U.S. is polluting more than anywhere else in the world. But where does all the pollution come from?
The UN’s International Panel on Climate Change released a full scientific and technical analysis of what the main causes of global emissions are. Over 50 percent of the global emissions are a direct result of large corporations using cheap and harmful methods of production rather than those which are carbon friendly.
The sad reality is, that until these corporations stop polluting, the actions of individuals will not be enough on their own to stop the growing problem greenhouse emissions are creating.
Some people would argue that it is not the corporations job to control their pollution. Afterall, it is the consumer that is buying their products so shouldn’t the buyer pay for the impact their purchase has? If only it were that simple. Companies do not tailor make every product for each person who wants something; They mass produce them, and hope people buy their goods. If consumers just stop contributing to their garbage, all it would do is move the product to the landfills faster, not create less trash.
All hope is not lost, however. Laws that strengthen environmental regulations on companies can lead to a significant change in the amount of pollution coming from these companies.