Sunday, August 21, 2016

The top ten environmental 'johns' list of any city.

I think it is a great idea and a sound way of taking control of a city or town's carbon foot print. It is unrealistic to expect the federal government to mandate a top ten listing, but, it is very realistic for states to mandate every city or town to begin to monitor their carbon footprint and ways to do better.

Mayors of the USA have been involved with the global climate for some time now. The United Nations gave up on the USA, so it turned to the country's mayors to find an interest in protecting people from the anticipated ravages of the climate crisis. 

I congratulate Taipei, Taiwan for taking this issue seriously and I look forward to them solving their problem.

The climate crisis has a local component that is all too easy to spot in the air movement through and around the USA. Local achievements in greenhouse gas reductions can change the physics to some extent. A local effort is not a minor consideration. Every city and town should consider following this example from Taiwan.

August 19, 2016
By Yu Hsiao-han and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, Aug. 19 (CNA) The state-owned Taiwan Power Co. (click here) (Taipower, 台電) is the main source of carbon dioxide emissions in Taiwan, according to a list released Friday by the country's Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).

The list showed the top 10 carbon dioxide emitters in Taiwan in 2014, with Taipower at the top as it was responsible for 84.59 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), or 37.36 percent of the total 226.4 million metric tons that year.

In the No. 2 spot was Formosa Petrochemical Corp. (台塑石化), with 29.77 million metric tons of CO2e, or 13.15 percent of the total.

Taipower and and Formosa Petrochemical accounted for more than half of the total emissions in 2014, the EPA data showed. They were followed by China Steel Corp. with 19.38 million metric tons of CO2e, or 8.56 percent of the total, Mai-Liao Power Corp. with 11.86 million metric tons, or 5.24 percent, and Dragon Steel Corp. with 9.76 million metric tons, or 4.31 percent, according to the list.

The top five emitters in 2014 accounted for 68.62 percent of the total emissions, the list showed....