this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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America’s wealthiest people are also some of the world’s biggest polluters – not only because of their massive homes and private jets, but because of the fossil fuels generated by the companies they invest their money in.

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[–] superphly@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Wait, how is that possible when China is responsible for 50% of the carbon emissions? This doesn’t add up.

[–] punkisundead 27 points 1 year ago (2 children)

From the article:

They found the wealthiest 10% in the US, households making more than about $178,000, were responsible for 40% of the nation’s human-caused, planet-heating pollution.

So this only focuses on emissions from the US

[–] starfennec@kbin.social 20 points 1 year ago

This, and most of China's carbon emissions come from the production of goods for the rest of the world, so they're not the only ones "responsible" for those 50%.

[–] Very_Bad_Janet@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

households making more than about $178,000

So that's a household, meaning it likely is two adults working plus children. I would like to see this broken down more granularly - what percentage is due to the top 1% or top 0.01%, and is it due to investments or private jets, yachts, and recreational space exploration.

[–] Schmeckinger@feddit.de 10 points 1 year ago

I understood it as they are responsible for 40% of americas pollution.

[–] blue_zephyr@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

The title is clearly referring to America's polution. Presumably the US only.