I keep getting this reaction to my column on global warming, from a reader in Maine:

Hey Dufus, you forgot to mention that Americans are energy pigs compared to the rest of the world, 5% of the population & we consume 24% of the energy. Do we not have a moral obligation not to be so wasteful? Stop waiting for some magic bullet to save the next generation, get off you fat American NASCAR lovin, SUV drivin’, oil suckin’ ass and do something positive for the planet. Disrespectfully yours

Me: This of course misses the fact that we are actually pretty energy efficient in the United States. The relevant issue isn’t our population but our energy consumption as it relates to our contribution to global GDP. And on that score we do pretty well. Update: From a reader:

Dear Jonah,
Why not point out that while we are 5% of the population, and use 24%
of the energy, we also produce 33% of the output? If everyone were
as energy efficient as we are, the Arabs could go pound sand.

Me: Because I’ve been up since five so I could work on other stuff and I didn’t want to go look up the numbers.