The drop was big, but emissions will need to fall three times as fast for the rest of the decade if the country wants to meet its climate goals.

I literally just today learned that the “Biden is destroying the climate, we emitted more greenhouse gas than ever before in 2023” talking point isn’t even “not the whole story” – it’s actually the complete opposite of what actually happened.

Not only are we still way below the high we set in 2005, the rate is still steadily going down. Maybe the people saying this mean the world as a whole set a record, and they’re blaming the entire world’s emissions on Biden? I have no idea.

Anyway, this is what actually happened.

Edit: Hang on, I am wrong or partly wrong. The talking-point version is that US set a record for fossil fuel extraction, not emissions, which is completely accurate and also still terrifying. So fair play I guess.

  • FlowVoid@lemmy.worldEnglish
    21·
    10 months ago

    There are a couple of intertwined issues. First, sanctions on Russia caused a sharp reduction of the amount of oil they export. The US increased its own exports to mitigate the pain felt by the EU, who had relied on Russian oil.

    Second, as discussed above the IRA will drastically reduce emissions by the US. In order to pass the bill, Manchin demanded new drilling permits in the Gulf. They threw him that bone, because even after accounting for new drilling the IRA has an overwhelmingly net beneficial effect on global CO2.