We residents of Australia have some of the highest greenhouse gas emissions in the world. I was surprised to discover that ours are even higher than those of the United States. I was already aware that we were much higher than China (China has gone from ¼ to nearly ½ of Australians’ emissions over the last decade), about 50% higher than Russians’, and in general only exceeded by the oil-exporting all-star countries (Qatar, Brunei. Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan).
In Australia, we have made a big mistake, of obliging ourselves to use a car each for everything we do outside the house, compounded by enlarging and centralising retail outlets (Coles, Woolworths, Bunnings) thus making them further away as well as reducing range and quality, which we accept as long as it’s cheaper.
That’s where some instant gains can be made - planning ahead to optimise any car trips (instead of driving backwards and forwards), fill cars as much as possible (car pooling), and there are even some people left who are capable of walking or cycling, if they feel like having a little break from so much sitting down.
