I am sorry but I am not one of those people who believes that CO2 leaves behind a footprint with the implication that this footprint is some sort of problem. I see CO2 is part of the life cycle and geological cycle of this planet. Other kinds of carbon molecules like carbon monoxide can be problematic. When a gas is released only by human technologies and otherwise does not exist in nature, that could be a problem. However, plants thrive from CO2 and I want plants to thrive. I do not see CO2 as a problem.
Last week I was on the Big Island of Hawaii with all of it's volcanoes. I walked inside one of the Kilauea craters that was still gassing. Of course last year Kilauea released a bunch of lava. If CO2 and other Earth derived gases were bad for the Earth, the Earth would not be releasing them.
When talking about human pollution, I do not think including CO2 in that discussion is wise. The discussion should be focused on toxic waste footprints.
I understand where you are coming from as far as CO2 not being toxic waste. This is very true. I think its important to keep moderation in mind. At this point moderation doesn't exist for us as an Am. culture. We live in a society where bigger is better and greed is loosely applied. To maintain the balance its important we protect forest areas and allow trees to grow at a particular rate. Our numbers as a population are increasing but the number of plant life absorbing the CO2 is not. I would personally be more comfortable if both were on a comparable increase. That being said yes there are more harmful toxins which are important to the conversation.
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