U.S. greenhouse gas emissions on the rise
U.S. greenhouse gas emissions—in particular, CO2—have continued to increase over the last decade, but EPA says the situation could be worse.
The volume of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted by the U.S. increased from 2003 to 2004, the latest year for which data are available, according to the U.S. EPA study Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2004.
Released in April, the report found that U.S. emissions rose by 15.8% from 1990 to 2004 and spiked almost 2% in 2004. CO2 makes up the bulk of GHGs, and most is released by energy producers, followed by transportation and industrial sources.
However, EPA calculates that the country’s “global warming potential” decreased as emissions of gases with larger and longer GHG impacts than CO2 were controlled, even as the economy grew in that time period. Still, critics note that the U.S. is nowhere near reaching its promised 18% reduction in GHG emissions by 2012.
