2008 U.S. Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions See Biggest Drop in Nearly 30 Years

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5/25/09

National
Chapter 19

Recently the U.S. Energy Information Administration released the fossil fuel CO2 emissions and they have decreased by 2.8%. This is the highest mark since 1982 when the U.S. had a sagging economy and had declining energy use. Also, the amount of energy used to produce one unit of GDP dropped 3.3 percent last year. The amount of CO2 emitted per unit of GDP was even more dramatic at 3.8 percent. Since 1990, U.S. carbon dioxide intensity has dropped 29.3 percent. The electric power sector is the highest emitter of CO2 in the U.S.

This is a good sign that all of our efforts to reduce carbon emissions are actually working. The biggest thing I thought that was in this article was that the amount of energy used to produce one unit of GDP dropped 3.3 percent last year. This shows that our economy is still growing but we are finding new, better ways to produce the energy needed to boost the economy.

GDP- Total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year.