Small number of rich Americans responsible for most residential pollution

Aerial view of factory spewing fumes

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Rich Americans are responsible for about 25% more greenhouse gas pollution from their homes than poorer Americans, new research found.

The comprehensive study of U.S. residential carbon footprints, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed that greenhouse gas pollution from especially affluent suburbs can be 15 times higher than in nearby neighborhoods, primarily due to larger homes.

“There seems to be a small group of people that are inflicting most of the damage to be honest.” Benjamin Goldstein, lead author of the study, told the AP. Even though rich Americans are responsible for far more global warming pollution than poorer Americans, “the poor are more exposed to the dangers of the climate crisis,” Dr. Renee Salas, a Boston emergency room physician and Harvard climate health researcher, said on a press call.

The study also shows the importance of decarbonizing the residential sector, with the 25 least-polluting ZIP codes all found in California and New York where officials have taken more aggressive action to combat climate change. “I don’t think we can solve this based on personal choices. We need large scale structural transitions of our energy infrastructure,” Goldstein said.

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