US leads world in CO2 reduction, US scheduled coal plant closures could put US CO2 emissions at 1980 levels by 2017

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8/16/12, "Bentek says that power companies plan to retire 175 coal-fired plants over the next five years [by 2017]. That could bring coal's CO2 emissions down to 1980 levels."...

8/16/12, “AP IMPACT: CO2 emissions in US drop to 20-year low,” AP, Kevin Begos

“In a surprising turnaround, the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the U.S. has fallen dramatically to its lowest level in 20 years and government officials say the biggest reason is that cheap and plentiful natural gas has led many power plant operators to switch from dirtier-burning coal.

Many of the world's leading climate scientists didn't see the drop coming in large part because it happened as a result of market forces rather than direct government action against carbon dioxide....

In a little-noticed technical report, the U.S. Energy Information Agency, a part of the Energy Department, said this month that energy related U.S. CO2 emissions for the first four months of this year fell to about 1992 levels. Energy emissions make up about 98 percent of the total. The Associated Press contacted environmental experts, scientists and utility companies and learned that virtually everyone believes the shift could have major long-term implications for U.S. energy policy....

The International Energy Agency said the U.S. has cut carbon dioxide emissions more than any other country over the last six years....

How much further the shift from coal to natural gas can go is unclear. Bentek says that power companies plan to retire 175 coal-fired plants over the next five years [by 2017]. That could bring coal's CO2 emissions down to 1980 levels."...
 
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6/10/13, "US Carbon Dioxide Emissions Fall as Global Emissions Rise," Cato.org, Paul C. 'Chip' Knappenberger
   
"Notice that the U.S. is far and away the leader in reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, while China primarily is responsible for pushing global CO₂ emissions higher. In fact, CO₂ emissions growth in China more than offsets all the CO₂ savings that we have achieved in the U.S."
 














Above chart from IEA report, p. 2 

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Global warming stopped 17 years ago so it doesn't matter anyway unless you like stealing trillions from the US taxpayer for decades for something that doesn't exist:

2/21/13, “IPCC Head Pachauri Acknowledges Global Warming Standstill,” The Australian, Graham Lloyd 

 

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