Thoughts on "The Audit"

I think the whole concept of having a Global Climate Audit is intriguing. While it did remind me somewhat of 1984 or “Harrison Bergeron” in the sense that the government could get so much information about you, I still think the idea could be truly beneficial. I don’t think gathering the numbers needed to calculate someone’s carbon footprint is that intrusive, and it’s for a good cause: Getting the Earth back to a healthy state.

Having some sort of setup like this is very attainable for our society, and I think we could benefit from at least knowing what our carbon footprint is, how it compares to the rest of the world, and what we can do to reduce it.

I was interested in trying to calculate my own carbon footprint, but I live in an apartment complex and didn’t have all the information to accurately finish the questionnaire. However, if you’re interested in finding out your own, you can check it out by going to this website.

In regards to the story, I found it crazy that pretty much everyone in the story knew about the GCA and its rules except Bill. However, this isn’t so far fetched when it comes to information about climate change and the way people hear about and react to it now. While most of us in this class know some information about climate change and the effects it has on the environment, there are still plenty of people who are probably shocked by it.

One positive thing about Bill’s revelation of his effects on the environment included him getting more information on the GCA and how his carbon footprint related to the rest of the world, as well as how it affected the environment. I think pollution seeps into our daily lives more than we realize. I found a very interesting article about how the simplest things, like where we buy our food form, can impact our carbon footprints. You can read more about it here. The graph here corresponds with the article, giving a visual representation of all the things we do that include us making our very own carbon footprints.

I think looking into little ways we can reduce our own personal pollution is very important, and just as Bill did some self exploration, imagine how much healthier the world could be if we all tried to do it too.