If world leaders and other climate activists want my support, they should practice what they preach. How much are they willing to reduce their consumption to reflect the dire situation they claim we face?
Would they:
- Live in a dwelling that is about 900 to 1000 square feet per occupant? My guess is that this is still above the average home size in most of the world. A family of four would still have a 4000 square foot residence. Lots of room for them and potential guests.
- Live in a multi-unit housing facility? Multi-unit housing can be made more energy efficient. With fewer walls exposed to the outside, heating and cooling could be less necessary.
- Fly only when necessary and then use commercial aviation? I don’t expect them to fly coach, but commercial aviation is more efficient considering the number gallons of fuel divided by the number of passengers.
- Drive only one personal vehicle? Fewer vehicles manufactured means less energy and resources consumed in their manufacture. Operational fuel usages may go up a bit, but with the use of public transportation (including ride sharing services), actual energy consumption may go down.
- Generally, use public transportation? Having the elites of the world using public transportation would ensure that the overall service and security would improve. A bit more fuel that may be consumed because of the larger number of people riding the service would be offset by the reduction of fuel usage by personal vehicles.
- Have only one home/dwelling? A winter home in the south or a summer home on the coast of Maine are nice, but if you want the rest of us to decrease our carbon footprint, what better way to share the sacrifice. You can always rent a suite for a few weeks to escape the winter or summer, rather than maintain multiple homes.
If these leaders would adopt the above recommendations, I think I would be more likely to listen to their arguments.