March 26, 2008—Carbon dioxide emissions from US power plants climbed 2.9 percent in 2007, the largest single-year increase since 1998, according to new analysis by the nonprofit and nonpartisan Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) of data from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Now the single largest factor in US climate change pollution, the electric power industry’s carbon dioxide emissions have risen 5.9 percent since 2002 and 11.7 percent since 1997.
The new EIP report shows that the 10 states with the biggest one-year increases in CO2 pollution were: Texas, Georgia, Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Virginia and North Carolina. According to the EIP analysis, Texas, Georgia and Arizona had the biggest CO2 pollution increases on a one-, five- and 10-year basis.
Data from 2006 show that the 10 states that emitted the most CO2 per megawatt-hour of electricity produced (meaning the least efficient power production relative to resulting climate-related pollution) are: North Dakota, Wyoming, Kentucky, Indiana, Utah, West Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, and Iowa.
Commenting on the report, Eric Schaeffer, director, Environmental Integrity Project, Washington, D.C. said: “The current debate over global warming policy tends to focus on long-term goals, like how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent over the next 50 years. But while we debate, CO2 emissions from power plants keep rising, making an already dire situation worse.”
For other key findings, recommendations, and the full text of the report, see the EIP Web site.
