|
|
Clean Air Reports
Search
•
RSS Feed
Executive Summary
The early effects of global
warming are already evident across the United States and worldwide. The
past nine years have allbeen among the 25 warmest for the contiguous
United States, a streak unprecedented in the historical record.
Ifemissions are 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 nationwide has
allowed global warming pollution to grow out of control. In February
2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United
Nations body charged with assessing the scientific record on global
warming, found that the evidence of global warming is “unequivocal” and
concluded, with more than 90 percent certainty, that human activities
are responsible for most of the observed rise in global average
temperatures since the mid-20th century.
If current trends in emissions continue, the IPCC projects that
temperatureswill increase anywhere from an additional 1.1° to 6.4°C (2°
to 11.5°F). The consequences of this increase in global temperatures
will vary from place to place but will include sea level rise, heat
waves, drought, increasingly intense tropical storms, loss of plant and
animal species, decreased crop yields, decreased water availability,
and the spread of infectious diseases. The
United States is the largest worldwide contributor to global warming,
releasing almost a quarter of the world’s carbondioxide, 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 and solar power. Unfortunately, the U.S. government so far
has rejected mandatory limits on global warming pollution, allowing
carbon dioxide emissions to rise unabated. Using the
most recent state fossil fuel consumption data from the Department of
Energy, this report examines trends in carbon dioxide emissions
nationally and by state for the 15 years spanning 1990 to 2004. Our
major findings include the following: Carbon dioxide pollution is on the rise. • Carbon
dioxide pollution from fossil fuel consumption is on the rise in the
United States, increasing by 18 percent between 1990 and 2004. •Electric
power plants and the transportation sector—particularly cars and light
trucks—drove the increase inemissions nationwide. Between 1990 and
2004, U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from the electric power sector
jumped by 28 percent and from the transportation sector by almost a
quarter (23 percent).
•Carbon
dioxide emissions increased the most in the Southeast, Great
Lakes/Midwest, and Gulf South regionsover the 15 year period. The
states experiencing the largest absolute increases in carbon dioxide
emissions between 1990 and 2004 are Texas, Florida, Illinois, North
Carolina, and Georgia. The electric power sector was the primary factor driving the increase in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions between 1990 and 2004. • The
electric power sector accounted for more than half (55 percent) of the
U.S. emissions increase. Rising electricity demand from residential,
commercial and industrial consumers spurred this rapid increase in
carbon dioxide emissions fromthe electric power sector. •Coal-fired
power plants accounted for most of the increase in carbon dioxide
emissions from the electric power sector. Between 1990 and 2004, U.S.
carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants increased by a
quarter, accountingfor three-fourths of the emissions increase in the
electric power sector and 42 percent of the nation’s overall increase
incarbon dioxide emissions. •The
states that experienced the largest absolute increases in carbon
dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants between 1990 and 2004
are Illinois, Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Indiana. •Between
1990 and 2004, U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from natural gas
consumption in the electric power sector increased by more than two
thirds (almost 70 percent), accounting for 13 percent of the nation’s
overall increase in carbon dioxide emissions. •The
states that experienced the largest absolute increases in carbon
dioxide emissions from natural gas-fired power plants between 1990 and
2004 are Florida, Texas, Arizona, California, and Nevada. The transportation sector also played a major role in driving up U.S. carbon dioxide emissions between 1990 and 2004. •The
transportation sector accounted for 40 percent of the nation’s overall
increase in carbon dioxide emissions during this time period. •Cars
and light trucks were responsible for most of the increase in carbon
dioxide emissions from the transportation sector. Between 1990 and
2004, carbon dioxide emissions from motor gasoline consumption
increased by almost a quarter (22 percent), accounting for more than
half of the emissions increase in the transportation sector. •The
states with the largest absolute increases in carbon dioxide emissions
from motor gasoline consumption between 1990 and 2004 include Texas,
Florida, California, Georgia, and Arizona. The longer we wait to
reduce global warming pollution, the harder the task will be in the
future. Many U.S. states have started taking important steps to cut
global warming pollution within their borders, but the global warming
problem also demands a national solution. Key components of an action
plan to cut global warming pollution include: •Establishing
mandatory, science-based limits on global warming pollution that reduce
emissions from today’s levels by the end of the decade, by at least
15-20 percent by 2020, and by at least 80 percent by 2050. •Reducing
our dependence on fossil fuels by making our homes and businessesmore
energy efficient, making our carsand SUVs go farther on a gallon of
gasoline, and generating more electricity from renewable energy sources.
|
