Let me be as precise as I can. USPIRG (United States Public Interest Research Group) has issued a report that shows greenhouse gas emissions have doubled in 28 states between 1960 and 2001. That’s DOUBLED. As in increased by 100% or more.
An excerpt from the Executive Summary of the USPIRG report follows below the fold.
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.
I’ve got nothing to add.
