Linda Perrine (“The Challenge of Carbon,” 7/18) discusses a number of ways to lower the personal contributions to carbon emissions that I would suggest are the “feel good” approaches to a problem that won’t be solved by any of the actions proposed.
A far more effective way would be for individuals to have one fewer child. The issue of human population is rarely discussed since it isn’t a “feel good” topic and, not surprisingly, was not brought up in her article.
Individuals in their reproductive years who are looking to lower their carbon footprint should consider reading this short Science article (“The best way to reduce your carbon footprint is one the government isn’t telling you about,” 7/11/2017). The graph shows how striking that one action has on one’s carbon footprint.
Or read the original paper by Seth Wynes and Kimberly Nicholas in Environmental Research Letters: “The climate mitigation gap: education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions.”
Sal Pietromonaco
Eugene
A Note From the Publisher
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Eugene Weekly
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