Shocker! In the absence of a national program to cap and reduce the amount of planet-warming gases we’re pumping into the atmosphere, U.S. emissions continued to grow in 2007. The country’s overall emissions increased 1.4 percent that year, with the majority of that increase coming from fuel and electricity consumption, according to a new draft report released by the EPA on Wednesday.
The draft of the 2009 U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report found that total greenhouse-gas emissions for the country were about 7,125 million metric tons in 2007.
Emissions grew 17.1 percent from 1990 to 2007, the report found. That includes carbon dioxide releases as well as methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. The annual report is a requirement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change international treaty, which the U.S. ratified in 1992.
The EPA is seeking public comment on the report for the next 30 days. See here for more information on how to submit a comment.
