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Global Warming Program Reports
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Executive Summary
The early effects of global warming are already evident across the
United States and worldwide. The year 2005 was the warmest on record.
Left unchecked, temperatures will continue to rise, and the effects of
global warming will become more severe. This report examines trends in
U.S. global warming pollution nationally and by state and concludes
that the failure to limit emissions from burning oil, coal, and natural
gas has allowed global warming pollution to grow out of control.
Human
activities over the last century – primarily burning fossil fuels –
have changed the composition of the atmosphere in ways that threaten to
dramatically alter the climate in the years to come. In a December 2005
speech, James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space
Studies, stated, “The Earth’s climate is nearing, but has not passed, a
tipping point, beyond which it will be impossible to avoid climate
change with far ranging undesirable consequences.” These consequences,
he said, would “constitute practically a different planet” and include
sea level rise, heat waves, drought, more intense hurricanes, decreased
crop yields, water scarcity, and the spread of infectious diseases.
The
United States is by far the largest worldwide contributor to global
warming, releasing a quarter of the world’s carbon dioxide, the primary
global warming pollutant. Power plants, cars, and light trucks are the
largest U.S. sources of carbon dioxide.
Existing technology
could substantially reduce global warming pollution by making power
plants and factories more efficient, making cars go farther on a gallon
of gasoline, and shifting the country to clean, renewable energy
sources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. These solutions
also would reduce our dependence on oil, reduce air pollution, protect
pristine places from oil drilling and mining, and save consumers money.
Unfortunately,
the United States has rejected mandatory limits on global warming
pollution, opting instead to allow global warming pollution to increase
unabated. As a result, carbon dioxide emissions have skyrocketed
nationally and in most states.
Using data compiled by the Oak
Ridge National Laboratory, this report examines trends in carbon
dioxide emissions and fossil fuel combustion nationally and by state
for the four decades spanning 1960 to 2001. Our major findings include
the following:
Carbon Dioxide Emissions Are Booming
•
Between 1960 and 2001, U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide almost doubled,
jumping from 2.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 1960 to
almost 5.7 billion metric tons in 2001, an increase of 95 percent.
•
In the 1990s, carbon dioxide emissions grew more quickly than in the
1970s and 1980s, increasing steadily at an average rate of 1.5 percent
each year. The Energy Information Administration estimates that
emissions grew by 1.7 percent in 2004, increasing to almost 6.0 billion
metric tons.
• Regionally, carbon dioxide emissions rose most
rapidly in the Southeast and Gulf South between 1960 and 2001,
increasing by 163 percent and 175 percent, respectively.
• Among
the states, Texas ranked first in the nation for the highest emissions
of carbon dioxide in 2001, releasing 12 percent of the nation’s total
carbon dioxide emissions. In 1960, Texas emitted 240.7 million metric
tons of carbon dioxide; by 2001, the state’s emissions had grown to
668.5 million metric tons, an increase of 178 percent.
•
Twenty-eight (28) states more than doubled their carbon dioxide
emissions between 1960 and 2001. The 10 states that experienced the
largest overall increases in emissions in this period include Texas,
Florida, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Indiana, Kentucky, North
Carolina, Missouri, and Arizona.
Driving the Boom in Carbon Dioxide Emissions
A
dramatic growth in oil emissions from the transportation sector and
coal emissions from electricity generation fueled the rapid increase in
U.S. carbon dioxide emissions between 1960 and 2001.
• Carbon
dioxide emissions from oil combustion jumped 1.1 billion metric tons
from 1960 to 2001, accounting for 40 percent of the total increase in
U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. The transportation sector drove this
rapid increase. Carbon dioxide emissions from oil burned in the
transportation sector increased by more than 150 percent over the
period, largely due to a substantial rise in vehicle travel and the
stagnating fuel economy of vehicles. In every other sector, carbon
dioxide emissions from oil combustion peaked in the 1970s (Figure ES-1).
•
Carbon dioxide emissions from coal climbed 1.1 billion metric tons
between 1960 and 2001, accounting for 40 percent of the total increase
in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. Increased electricity generation from
coal-fired power plants fueled this rapid growth. Emissions from coal
combustion in the electricity sector skyrocketed from 1960 to 2001,
increasing by 370 percent, as demand for electricity boomed. At the
same time, carbon dioxide emissions from the industrial sector declined
steadily after 1966 (Figure ES-2).
The longer we wait to reduce
global warming pollution, the harder the task will be in the future.
Key components of an action plan to protect future generations from
global warming include:
• Establish mandatory limits on global
warming pollution that reduce emissions from today’s levels within 10
years, by 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050.
• Reduce our dependence
on fossil fuels by making our homes and businesses more energy
efficient, making our cars and SUVs go farther on a gallon of gasoline,
and generating more electricity from renewable energy sources.
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