long-term sustainability goal: 2 tons / person / year
major CO2 allotment by category
- food: 2T
- travel: 3.75T -> 1T (1T currently = 4250 mi NA, 12000 mi CA)
"essential" travel
- health-related: 3000 (SD x 12)
- M fam: 6000 (SJ x 8)
- K fam: 3000 (Santa Fe or EC once every 3 years)
- friends: 2000
- touring: 7000 mi (once every 3 years) - home heating and cooling, plus electricity use: 1.67T
- consumerism:
Useful facts
On average, cars emit almost one pound of carbon dioxide per passenger mile. Buses, which run at about 25 percent capacity, omit 0.64 pound of CO2 per passenger mile, according to data from the Department of Defense. If they ran full, buses would emit 0.18 pound of CO2 per passenger mile, making them comparable to rail but at a much lower cost. (Scientific American, May 2023, "Let's Take The Bus", pg76)