EPA Report: US greenhouse gas emissions drop again despite exit from Paris Accords

Despite President Trump leading the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accords, a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report showed “overall decreases across sectors and that total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions reported decreased by 2.7 percent from 2016 to 2017.”

That may surprise leftists, Al Gore and global warming alarmists.

Even more shocking is that many members of the Accords saw INCREASES in emissions.

2011 CPAC photo Gage Skidmore

“Thanks to President Trump’s regulatory reform agenda, the economy is booming, energy production is surging, and we are reducing greenhouse gas emissions from major industrial sources,” said EPA acting administrator Andrew Wheeler. “These achievements flow largely from technological breakthroughs in the private sector, not the heavy hand of government. The Trump Administration has proven that federal regulations are not necessary to drive CO2 reductions. While many around the world are talking about reducing greenhouse gases, the U.S. continues to deliver, and today’s report is further evidence of our action-oriented approach.”

The report also said emissions from larger power plants dropped 4.5% since 2016.

Gore spoke last summer, in June, stating that Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Accords was a threat to humanity.

“I think it was reckless,” Gore said. “I think it was indefensible. It undermines America’s standing in the world. It threatens the ability of humanity to solve the climate crisis in time.”

In contrast to that assertion, the U.S. is still leading the world, even without the Accords, which was non-binding and lacked an enforcement clause for penalties to a nation that failed to meet environmental benchmarks.

Another report released in September by the U.S. Energy Information Administration found that carbon emissions from major energy sources dropped almost 1% overall, the lowest level for U.S. emissions since 1993.

A June 2018 BP Statistical Review of Global Energy indicated that the United States led the world last year in reducing carbon emissions across the board.

American Enterprise Institute (AEI) reports that U.S. carbon emissions declined by more than 42 million tons in 2017, far ahead of the next most environmentally-friendly country, Ukraine, where emissions declined by 20 million tons.

Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Japan also saw major declines in how much carbon dioxide each nation emits into the atmosphere.

Despite their signatures to the Accords, Canada, Spain, the European Union, and China, all saw significant increases in carbon dioxide emissions. China released 120 million more tons of carbon dioxide into the air in 2017 than in 2016.

The EU made up for America’s decline, releasing 40 million more tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.