news views and analysis

Leaders of the world are meeting in Bali, Indonesia at the UN Climate Conference this week. From some of the findings released at the conference…

Sweden is First and the US almost Last… Says Study A new report rates the climate-protection performance of 56 countries that account for 90 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. While Germany came in at second best, the US ranked second worst.

India comes at a favorable 5th position.

Yes, that does not mean that everything is gung-ho with the climate and environment in India, but its still an interesting indicator of what is going on (or not) in the world around us.

However these simple statistics gleaned from this very informative interactive paint a much larger picture.

The above table brings a stark contrast to the amount of energy the US consumes vis-a-vis its percentage of the total world population.

And even more scary is that countries like China and India are moving in the direction of the US in terms of energy consumption.

So if 5% of the world consumes 20% of the worlds energy, what happens when 20% of the world starts living the same kind of lifestyle that the 5% live. Insanely scary.

No wonder the energy conservation movement is something that is on top of the news pile here in the US.

India should strategize so that it does not ape the US in terms of energy consumption. Already China is going that way and the early warning signs are there to see. Pollution in Chinese urban areas is all-permeating. And when the world converges on Beijing next July for the Olympics, it will be difficult to ignore the itchy eyes and the smog filled skies.