Which blue collar crime is cooking the planet?

30 June 2016 - 15:27 By Bruce Gorton

Researchers studying criminal activity in England and Wales have published a study that shows the environmental impact of crime.After tallying the costs‚ including replacing stolen goods and imprisoning the culprits‚ the study‚ published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology‚ found that in 2011 criminals were responsible for more than 4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.Climate change implicated in France floods: studyTorrential rains which caused flooding in France recently bore the unmistakable fingerprint of climate change, according to research to be submitted to a scientific journal next week. And the biggest culprit was burglary – which constituted about 30% of the total.This is because when somebody steals or breaks your things‚ you’re going to want to replace them.Aggravated bodily harm and theft contributed 11% each.While this may make it sound like stopping crime can save the world‚ the researchers caution that doing so could just mean people end up spending more on other‚ just as polluting things.After all‚ how much in the way of carbon emissions would criminals generate at home‚ as opposed to behind bars?“Although it is not possible to definitively state whether the carbon emissions that result from crime can be avoided completely by preventing crime‚ raising awareness of these emissions remains important for policy valuation of crime and should not be overlooked‚” the researchers conclude...

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