Yesterday, New York City‘s Sustainability Office put out this video to graphically visualize the reality of how much carbon, in tonnes is produced by New York City in one day..

The amazing fact from all of this is that Toronto apparently produces almost 15% more carbon per day than NYC… Then add the fact that urban environments, by their nature tend to emit less carbon than suburban and rural areas.

Is this why Canada missed its carbon reduction commitment by more than 30%???

I am deeply perplexed by climate change deniers.  I have had in depth conversations with scientists and engineers who follow the “scientific method,”  and though the preponderant majority of scientists are convinced by the data that they have collected, others seem consumed by the elegance of their “method,”  and how the scientific method offers them an opportunity to become famous by looking for possible flaws in the data.    I do understand that point. Copernicus and Leonardo Da Vinci were pioneers of elegant new ideas. But at some point the law of diminishing return applies, and you must acknowledge that Copernicus is right. More weird, many focus on denial of the fact that human activity and fossil fuels are the base explanation in the data.  It is all just natural cycles.   One said to me that the scientific method is not democratic.

By now one would assume that while we may find minor issues, no one is going to become the next Copernicus or Leonardo by denying human caused climate change. In frustation with climate change deniers, I have offered the position that “sustainability is the right thing to do, either way.”

Of course, there is documented evidence that the Koch brothers and others have a financial and political agenda, and are actively funding climate change denial…

To me it is just mental masturbation as our grandchildren face living with our environmental mess..  Right wingers say the same about Keynsian economics and deficits.