US Carbon Emissions Up 6% In Past Two Years [View all]

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U.S. emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide have risen 6% in the last two years despite the Obama administration's efforts to curb global warming, federal data show. Reversing several years of declines, its emissions from burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) rose 2.7% during the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2013, and 6% compared to 2012, according to the Energy Information Administration's "Monthly Energy Review."

This increase is a setback for President Obama, who touted U.S. progress in cutting emissions at this week's historic U.N. Climate Summit in New York, attended by representative from more than 120 countries.

"Over the past eight years, the United States has reduced our total carbon pollution by more than any other nation on Earth," he said, adding the U.S. is on track to meet his 2009 pledge to cut carbon emissions 17% below 2005 levels by 2020.

Indeed, until 2013, the U.S. was well on its way toward meeting that goal. Its energy-related carbon emissions had fallen 13.4% from 2005 through 2012, according to the EIA data. But given increases in the last 18 months, that decline since 2005 now stands at 10.7%.

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/09/26/us-carbon-emissions-rise-despite-obama-climate-plan/16276811/