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The Carbon Boom: National and State Trends in Carbon Dioxide Emissions Since 1960 2006-06-20 Carbon_Boom.pdf

Executive Summary

As the new home of Florida PIRG's environmental work, Environment Florida can be contacted with any questions regarding this news release.

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.