A good book to read on this is: Flat, Hot and Crowded, by Thomas Friendman.

There is allot of great data on this in the book. The thing I found interesting is that other countries like India and China that are now using huge amounts of Electricity and resources are consuming all the power we save per day in 3 hours. So yes its a checks and balances deal, but every one has to play to really matter.

Also you want to reduce your carbon footprint..? Dont have Kids. Then when you die thats it there is no more legacy that is using resources. In your lifetime you can use double the resources and still be ahead, figuring there would be X many more generations from your kids using resources.