BELIEVE it or not, there was a serious article precisely on this topic, and I found the premises and conclusions interesting.
First, consider that a nuclear family usually resides in a single home unit, and only branches out as children grow and begin families of their own. These family homes consume a given amount of electricity, generate a certain amount of heat and contribute a given amount of carbon into the atmosphere. They will need to consume a certain amount of resources to survive and be useful citizens.
The article then takes a look at what happens to families that have divorced or separated parents. Usually, in these cases, we find the beginning of two family home units, with the separated spouses living apart in different houses. The problem, therefore, is that these two separate households tend to consume just a bit more in terms of resources, and generate a larger collective carbon footprint.
Ergo, divorced or separated families tend to contribute more towards global warming!
This hypothesis should probably be received warmly by the pro-life and pro-family movements, if not the pro-environment forces out there. Which would probably cause a groan of anguish among those who believe that the right to choose is paramount.
At any rate, I present this and leave it to each of you to draw your own conclusions.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
You do have a point there. IMHO, you will have to consider the human aspect of these divorces and annulments. There are battered wives/husbands out there who may just really need to get out of a really bad situation.
I think there are other ways to address the global warming issue because you are addressing it to very sensitive people who have just undergone divorce or annulment.
We all have a right to choose but whatever the decision may be, we should all learn to respect that. I may sound defensive. But it’s because I was once a battered wife.
January 4th, 2008 at 2:52 am
So if strangers would group themselves into houses, we would consume less energy? I think it doesn’t follow that more households means more energy consumption. The size, equipment, appliances, and actual consumption would also have to be taken into consideration along with other factors.