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Environmental Recourse, Global Warming and a Conspicuous Anomaly Arup K. SenGupta* and Michael German Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States greenhouse gases or GHGs, especially carbon dioxide, is the single most critical issue agreed upon by all. While the U.S. constitutes less than 4.5% population of the planet, it accounts for over 15% global energy consumption and CO2 emissions.1,2 Thus, the onus is on us, the citizens of the U.S., to act more responsibly as global citizens. Such a need for action has been pledged in the recent U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change. However, our ongoing practice of excess carbon dioxide release from our own households is a blatant violation of what we continue to preach. For individual households in the U.S., the energy requirement for temperature control, and consequent emission of carbon dioxide from nonrenewable energy source, is second only to vehicular emission. Housing construction and regional planning have not been done in consideration of their long-term climate impacts. The U.S.-China pledge calls on communities and cities to reconsider their structures and operations to be climate-smart and low carbon to effect real impact on GHG emissions. Paradoxically, while the efficiency of routine household gadgets and appliancessuch as refrigerator, washing machine, dryer, microwave cookinghas improved significantly, the average alancing the risks and benefits of environmentally size of a new home has increased nearly 50% and the current impactful activities has grown to be everyone’s business average size is the greatest ever.3 Besides heating, cooling, and during the last four decades- and rightfully so. Often, even in lighting, larger houses are also associated with more energytoday’s world with all its riches of scientific knowledge, and chemical-consuming lawn care activity. The trend seems immediate gains tend to prevail and often cloud our judgment unstoppable in suburban areas in most of the states in the U.S. about possible long-term adversity. As a society, we are fixated What is the recourse to abate this spiraling misdeed? Can we on the short-term. Always. There is nothing wrong about it as as a society stand up to it and take the appropriate actions? The long as we are honest and ready to change our stancereverse issue is not a once in a lifetime concern, but a once in a planet or reaffirmbased on evolving scientific evidence. Our problem. The answer should be an emphatic yes and we should environmental movement is replete with such examples act on it morally and legally the same way as higher rate or tariff globally: DDT or dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethylene initially is levied on heavy consumers of water and electricity in many protected millions from mosquito-borne disease, but its places or higher toll tax for the cars in the road with no passengers besides the driver. Along the same vein, we are bioaccumulation was found to be potentially carcinogenic; entitled to putting atonement tax for households that exceeds chlorofluorocarbon or CFCs were a nonhazardous replacement predesignated area requirement based on the number of for ammonia or sulfur dioxide refrigerants, but have left longoccupants. Such a provision will also engender confidence in term holes in the protective ozone layer of the stratosphere; other countries about U.S.’s seriousness in curbing CO2 tetraethyl lead prevented knocking inside internal combustion emissions and attaining global unanimity. engines, but posed grave health hazards from soil and air The. building sector is a major contributor to climate change pollution. because of construction materials used and operational energy As diverse as these issues seem, they all have one thing in expended for lighting, heating, and cooling. This practice is a common: seemingly appealing scientific inventions, although threat; the same is an opportunity as well. Our actions to used and welcomed worldwide initially, were finally rejected address these issues will reconfirm that we value societal and abandoned when their adverse impacts on humanity were wellbeing based on sound science. The obvious question is Do appropriately revealed by sound science. Every case was a joint we have the moral courage and political will to take the matter victory for our planet and science as well. In the matter of global warming and its long-term fateful consequence, our actions and policies, in spite of all the Received: November 28, 2014 rhetoric, act contrary to sound science. Abating emission of Published: December 23, 2014
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© 2014 American Chemical Society
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DOI: 10.1021/es5058117 Environ. Sci. Technol. 2015, 49, 12−13
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Environmental Science & Technology head on? There are clear signs that political will is currently absent but there is hope, albeit slow, at the grassroots level. Academicians, both university professors and school teachers, may introduce evidence-based curricula illustrating short- and long-term impacts from the sizes of residential buildings enabling the next generation of Americans to make the right choice. We may act on it right away by doing what we do best: use science to inf luence policy.
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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REFERENCES
(1) Data- Population, Total; The World Bank: Washington, DC, 2012; http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL. (2) Data- Energy Use (kg of Oil Equivalent Per Capita); The World Bank: Washington, DC, 2013; http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ EG.USE.PCAP.KG.OE. (3) 2013 Characteristics of New Housing; United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and United States Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration: Washington, DC, 2013; http://www.census.gov/construction/chars/pdf/ c25ann2013.pdf.
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DOI: 10.1021/es5058117 Environ. Sci. Technol. 2015, 49, 12−13
