According to a recent report, the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions increased in 2022 by about 1.3%, just two years after they fell by 10.6% in 2020.
The massive fall in emissions during the pandemic was partly due to the disruptions to high-emitting industries like shipping and travel, which were all but halted because of the virus.
The percentage comes from a preliminary analysis completed by the Rhodium Group, a company that tracks yearly emissions and the country’s progress toward its climate goals.
The 1.3% increase from last year is far below the 6.5% jump seen in 2021 when the economy rebounded from the pandemic.
Ben King, a co-author of the report completed by Rhodium Group, shared that numbers are still lower than they were before the pandemic. Even before the massive drop in 2020, emissions were on a downward track, and now the analysis suggests they are back on that trend line.
“Greenhouse gas emissions are still not back up to 2019 levels. Potentially they won’t ever get back up to that level. Time will tell on that front,” King, an associate director with Rhodium Group’s Energy & Climate practice, said in an interview with NBC News. “We’re continuing on the trajectory of decline. The challenge is we need big decreases.”
The U.S. has two climate goals from the Paris Agreement approaching, one in 2025 and another in 2030, but Rhodium’s analysis says that even with trends going in a good direction, the country is not on track to reach either of them.
There have been some policy changes passed in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, but they have yet to go into effect. Even still, King says more policy will “be necessary” in achieving the country’s goals.
“If we stopped today and didn’t make policy adjustments and just relied on the Inflation Reduction Act, we would not make it,” King said.
The report noted some trends that arose last year, including renewable energy like wind, solar, hydropower, and others making up 22% of all electric power. This outpaced coal usage, which fell to 20%, for the first time ever.
While Rhodium’s analysis is typically accurate to a few fractions of a percentage point, a full detailed report of greenhouse gas inventories will be released by the Environmental Protection Agency within 15 months, as is typical.
Related
Related
