[font face=Serif][font size=5]Income disparity should be key factor in carbon policy: study[/font]
[font size=4]Wealthier households emit more greenhouse gases but also have more options to control their emissions, UAlberta study shows.[/font]

Posted by Michel Proulx on March 19, 2013

[font size=3](Edmonton) Policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from consumers need to take into account income disparity if they are to be effective and fair.

In a new study that looked at the different sources of greenhouse gas emissions from consumers based on their income levels, University of Alberta environmental sociologist Emily Huddart-Kennedy says the wealthiest households in Alberta emit the most greenhouse gases.

“We looked at it from income quintiles,” said the researcher with the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology. “In the wealthiest income quintile, 26 per cent of emissions come from air travel, which is something you can control. In the lowest income quintile, air travel only accounts for five per cent.”

She adds that for the lowest income households, about 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions are from household energy consumption.

…[/font][/font]