Report: US 2018 CO2 emissions saw biggest spike in years
The spike is the largest in eight years, according to Rhodium Group, an independent economic research firm.The data shows the US is unlikely to meet its pledge to reduce emissions by 2025 under the Paris climate agreement. Under President Donald Trump, the US is set to leave the Paris accord in 2020 while his administration has ended many existing environmental protections.
While the Rhodium report notes these figures – pulled from US Energy Information Administration data and other sources – are estimates, The Global Carbon Project, another research group, also reported a similar increase in US emissions for 2018.The US is the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases.And last year's spike comes despite a decline in coal-fired power plants; a record number were retired last year, according to the report.
The researchers note that 2019 will probably not repeat such an increase, but the findings underscore the country's challenges in reducing greenhouse gas output.In the 2015 climate accord, then President Barack Obama committed to reducing US emissions to at least 26% under 2005 levels by 2025.Now, that means the US will need to drop "energy-related carbon missions by 2.6% on average over the next seven years" – and possibly even faster – to meet that goal.
Posted by admin
on Jan 10 2019. Filed under Climate change.
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