Per capita, and why it matters to the environment not at all (mostly)

I had dinner guests over on Saturday, relatives that I love to bits, and we got talking about the Environmental Plan That Wasn't, and at some point my Uncle made the point that on a per capita basis the US was doing better than Canada.

This is a point I've heard before, and I responded better to him (because being polite and reasonable to a relative is a lot easier than to some tighty whitey wearing asshole on the internets) than I ever had online.

The simple reality is that per capita is fine for comparing certain things between disparate population groups, costs of things, out puts of things etc etc, and it's certainly an interesting way to gauge how much pollution (for example) Canadians are putting out individually in comparison with other countries.

But it breaks down quickly when you move away from the academic into the reality: Canada pollutes less than the US. Period. Now, it can be pointed out that we've increased our pollution per capita to show how little progress we've made as citizens and a country to decrease our out put of crap. But in a global sense, in the only sense that matters to the actual environment, less bad stuff comes out of Canada and more bad stuff comes out of the US (and other places as well it must be pointed out - just to head off the people who think that anything that isn't "USA USA USA" is anti-American).

And that, in the end, is all that matters.