MikeB on 13 March 2009
@ HappySqurriel
So European countries aren't capatalist democracies?
Yes, but they are social as well. That was my point, being social isn't a negative trade at all.
Per Capita CO2 output is an awful metric
The US performs miserably using any metric. CO2 output is just one of the very major problems we are facing.
A large portion of the reason why countries are able to massively reduce their CO2 output is by off-shoring their heavy manufacturing to another country.
Mainly to China, but China performs considerably better than the US. US companies outsource a lot to China or India.
People in Europe are still buying TVs even though they are now being produced in China under few/no environmental regulations.
Royal Dutch Philips would be punished in the Netherlands if they massively misbehaved in other countries.
Many Philips, Sony and Grundig TVs are being produced in the EU.
Finally, CO2 is not a polutant ...
Depends on the amount of forests which remain in Asia, South America and Africa. It does not require a rocket scientist to understand that a disbalance between the two (which is currently the case) will have global effects.
