Carbon emissions fall in US

Lowest level since 1994

Carbon dioxide emissions in America fell to their lowest level since 1994 last year.

A report compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance for the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) shows that emissions fell by 13% over the past five years as a result of investment in new energy-saving technologies and renewable energy.

Despite the widely-held view that Obama is failing in climate change policy, emissions in the US have fallen

(Image source - www.scientificamerican.com)

This fall brings the country more than halfway towards its target of cutting emissions by 17% of 2005 levels over the next decade, despite the fact that many claim that Congress and President Obama have failed to act efficiently on the issue of climate change. Obama can now use these figures to show that America is going in the right direction in terms of dealing with climate change and may improve the country’s standing in global climate negotiations. 

Ethan Zindler, a BCSE analyst said, ‘There have certainly been some solid results on the board in the US as a result of all these changes’. This view is also held by the president of the BCSE, Lisa Jacobsen, who believes the Bloomberg findings prove wrong the Conservative argument that acting on climate change would damage the economy, as GDP continued to rise even as emissions went down.

The report highlighted that the steadily expanding installation of wind, solar, hydro and geothermal energy projects represented the largest single source of new growth last year, reaching $44bn in 2012. The reduction of carbon emissions in America was also helped by 488,000 citizens who opted for a hybrid/plug-in vehicle last year.