From an article I read recently (https://www.earthday.org/dear-big-oil-its-you-not-me/), it states that individual contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is only a small percentage and that industry and refining is to blame for nearly all of it.
From another article even more recently (no link, was on HN recently) it shows that energy usage by the biggest companies is up a significant percentage (30-50%) and that they won't hit their carbon-neutral or carbon-zero targets. All of this increase is because of investment in "AI" and its massive energy requirements.
So even if you were doing all you could to reduce your impact, all it takes is a single person in charge of one of these companies to do something like build out a datacentre or build a new plant or dig a new coal mine, and all your hard work is for naught.
Mmh, I don't see how the article you linked in the first paragraph gives clear figures regarding individual greenhouse gas emissions. It says that 80% can be _linked_ to 57 Big Oil companies, but that does not mean that these 80% were caused by the companies (they didn't order the cars/trucks/ships to drive and deliver shiny products, they didn't fly in the planes etc.) so I am somewhat hesitant and would like to see more figures for the claim that only a small percentage is _caused_ by individuals. What greenhouse gas emission is in the end not also linked to some bloke wanting a shiny new thing to play with, a great experience or simply a piece of meat?
I am sympathetic to the argument that a simple persons influence is small compared to that of a company CEO. But of course there are many more simple people and their influence together is cumulative.
I still see very much a shared responsibility. Big firms could easily do better, but individuals could as well. In the face of the magnitude of the problem, can we really ignore any part of the equation? Can we really say that only the corporate world has to change or that the corporate world has to change first, when we need change on every level, corporate and individual, as fast as possible?
From another article even more recently (no link, was on HN recently) it shows that energy usage by the biggest companies is up a significant percentage (30-50%) and that they won't hit their carbon-neutral or carbon-zero targets. All of this increase is because of investment in "AI" and its massive energy requirements.
So even if you were doing all you could to reduce your impact, all it takes is a single person in charge of one of these companies to do something like build out a datacentre or build a new plant or dig a new coal mine, and all your hard work is for naught.