Status Quo = Justification?

A great mistake that everyone makes is justifying the 'status quo'. The existence of a given order is no justification for it.

An example...

I think that a large number of people would agree that

"China should stop it's growth in emissions immediately"

I don't think that a large number would agree that

"The USA should cut it's emissions 80% immediately"

Both would lead to emissions of around 4 tones of co2 equivalent per person (rough guess here), then we remember that china makes...just about everything! A lot of carbon is emitted for Americans and Europeans to have manufactured products and it is on the Chinese emissions balance sheet. Also, the USA, like the UK got wealthy on the back of cheap fossil fuel energy. China has emitted only around 1.3 times the GHG's of the UK whereas it has 1300'000'000 people not 60'000'000 so there is a great deal of debt by industrialised nations.

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