(credit: US EIA)
US carbon emissions were down slightly in 2015, continuing a period in which economic growth has been accompanied by relatively flat emissions. Compared to 2005, however, the current numbers represent a 12 percent drop. The Energy Information Agency (EIA) indicates this has largely been caused by the transition from coal to natural gas.
US carbon emissions saw a significant drop during the 2008-2009 economic crisis, driven largely by falling economic activity. As the economy began to rebound in 2010, so did carbon emissions. But succeeding years have seen a series of relatively minor ups and downs—the current numbers represent a drop of about two percent compared to 2014. Notably, the emissions are also below those at the height of the economic crisis in 2009.
That's rather significant, as economic growth has been consistently in the neighborhood of two percent since 2010. This provides a strong indication that, for the moment at least, the US has decoupled economic growth from carbon emissions. Overall, the economy is up about 15 percent since 2005 when inflation is taken into account.
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