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Country Brief on Low Carbon Societies, United States

The most recent Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory of the United States (2010) puts 2008 U.S. aggregate emissions at 6957 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalents (MtC02e), or 6016 MtC02e when including land use and forestry changes (LULUCF). The energy sector accounts for roughly 86% of this total. Depending on the source of information, this makes the United States the largest or second largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. A different picture emerges when one looks at the evolution of emissions intensity in economic terms. There are some signs that the dependence of the U.S. economy on GHG-emitting activities is slowing. The emissions intensity of the U.S. economy has actually fallen by 30% over the 1990-2008 period. Emissions per capita have fallen 6% over the same period. The challenge of producing a comprehensive national legal framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States should be understood in the context of its particular geographic, economic, and institutional circumstances. The large land area comprising the United States, as well as the system of strong checks and balances that characterize the federal government, largely explain the tendency for climate change initiatives to begin at the local or regional level. While the completion of comprehensive national legislation to reduce greenhouse gases has been stalled in the U.S. Congress over 2010, such legislation is only one tool in the long-term strategy to attain a low carbon society. Climate mitigation actions are rigorously being developed at the regional and state levels. The President of the United States has expressed his prioritization of climate change issues through the issuance of executive orders for government agencies to move forward with climate mitigation activities. U.S. government agencies, answering directly to the President, have taken significant steps in steering economic activities on a low carbon path. There are concrete actions that have been taken, evidence of a U.S. transition towards a low carbon economy. Three regional, multi-state, carbon-reducing initiatives are currently being implemented or planned. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), after having been ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court to evaluate greenhouse gases for harm to the public (as outlined by the Clean Air Act), released its Endangerment Finding that finds GHG emissions to harm public health and welfare and requires emissions to be explicitly controlled accordingly. Its Mandatory Reporting Rule requires GHG emissions accounting for most producers, covering roughly 85% of current emissions. This will allow for great advancements in knowledge of the sources of GHGs and of the impacts subsequent to any climate mitigation policy. 1 The views expressed in this paper are only those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Government or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The author may be contacted at garber.david@epa.gov for further information. 2 While the majority of the author’s words and ideas are original, descriptions of national programs are often extracted from the 2010 U.S. Climate Action Report, found at: http://www.state.gov/g/oes/rls/rpts/car5/index.htm