The latest bulletin on greenhouse gas emissions from the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) notes that while total global emissions rose by one full gigaton in 2011, emissions by the United States fell by 92 megatons. But the real surprise of the bulletin is this sentence: “U.S. emissions have now fallen by 430 Mt (7.7%) since 2006, the largest reduction of all countries or regions.” Re-read that last clause slowly: “the largest reduction of all countries or regions.”
To be sure, some of this reduction is recession-related, and some of it is related to the rapid substitution of newly-cheap natural gas for coal-fired electricity generation. But the IEA notes one unappreciated aspect of what’s also going on in the U.S. right now: “This development has arisen from lower oil use in the transport sector (linked to efficiency improvements, higher oil prices, and the economic downturn which has cut vehicle miles traveled).”
Calling these numbers “a stunner,” Canadian environmental analyst Barry Saxifrage notes, “Here is the biggest shocker of all: The average American’s CO2 emissions are down to levels not seen since 1964 — over half a century ago. . . Per person, Americans are back to 1960 levels of oil consumption. Oil is the biggest source of CO2 in the USA. Now with rising oil prices, new vehicle regulations, and the emergence of electric cars it looks like the USA’s biggest source of CO2 will continue to fall. . . Coal is the number two source of CO2 for Americans. Today the average American burns an amount similar to what they did in 1955, and even less than they did in the 1940s.”
Here’s Saxifrage’s chart that shows the long-term trends of per capita CO2 emissions and energy use:
Of course, none of this fits the narrative that the U.S. is the climate renegade, the foot-dragger, the holdout, the crusher of global hopes and dreams. Oh well, you can’t have everything.