U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Fifth National Communication of the United States of America Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
“The threat from climate change is serious, it is urgent, and it is growing. Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it—boldly, swiftly, and together—we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe.”
President Barack Obama
September 22, 2009
United Nations Summit on Climate Change
Throughout the United States, Americans are taking action to address the grave challenge of climate change, and to promote a sustainable and prosperous clean energy future. These efforts are occurring at all levels of government, in the private sector, and through the everyday decisions of individual citizens.
This U.S. Climate Action Report 2010 (2010 CAR) sets out the major actions the U.S. government is taking at the federal level, highlights examples of state and local actions, and outlines U.S. efforts to assist other countries’ efforts to address climate change.
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ENERGY CONSUMPTION
The United States currently consumes energy from petroleum, natural gas, coal, nuclear, conventional hydro, and renewables. Petroleum remains the largest single source of U.S. primary energy consumption; in 2008 it accounted for 37.7 percent of total U.S. energy demand, down from 41 percent in 2005. Natural gas accounts for 24.4 percent, coal for 22.4 percent, nuclear for 8.1 percent, conventional hydro for 2 percent, and other renewables for 3 percent.
U.S. energy consumption has shifted over the last decade with economic growth rates and trends in energy efficiency in the residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors. Between 2005 and 2007, total U.S. primary energy consumption grew by slightly over 1 percent. However, along with the current decrease in economic growth, total primary energy consumption fell by 2.2 percent in 2008 alone. The 99.3 quadrillion British thermal units (Btus) of energy consumed in 2008 represent a 1.1 percent decrease in consumption from 2005 levels and a 0.3 percent increase from 2000 levels.
The effects of the economic crisis on energy consumption are visible on a per capita basis as well. With an annual population growth rate of around 1 percent, per capita energy consumption between 2000 and 2007 declined to nearly 0.3 percent per year (Figure 2-4). In 2008, however, per capita energy use dropped sharply, down by 2.9 percent to 327 million Btus per person (U.S. DOE/EIA 2009b). EIA projects that high oil prices, increasing energy efficiency due to fuel efficiency standards, and increasing regulations on
carbon intensity between 2008 and 2020 will contribute to declining per capita energy use, which is expected to reach 310 million Btus per person in 2020 and decline thereafter (U.S. DOE/EIA 2009h).
In addition to the trend of decreasing energy consumption in recent years, overall energy intensity in the United States has decreased, indicating an overall trend toward increasing energy efficiency in the economy. Between 2000 and 2005, the energy intensity (energy consumed per dollar of GDP) of the U.S. economy declined on average by 1.9 percent per year. Between 2006 and 2008, energy intensity fell by 2.3 percent per year, from 9,140 Btus per dollar in 2005 to 8,520 Btus per dollar in 2008 (U.S. DOE/EIA 2009b). These data reflect a trend of advances in energy technologies and efficiency, and the growing importance of service industries and declining contribution of energy-intensive industries to the GDP.
The decline of the U.S. economy’s energy intensity has a direct effect on U.S. CO2 emissions, 94 percent of which derived directly from the burning of fossil fuels in 2007 (U.S. EPA/OAP 2009). As a result, the carbon intensity—measured as the ratio of metric tons of CO2 emitted from energy consumption per million dollars of real GDP—also declined steadily in the past few years, falling by 4.5 percent from 544 in 2005 to 520 in 2007 (U.S. DOE/EIA 2009b).
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TRANSPORTATION
The U.S. transportation system has evolved to meet the needs of a highly mobile, dispersed population and a large, dynamic economy. While the transportation system supports the movement of people and goods and the economic vitality of the country, efforts are underway to ensure that it is also as sustainable as possible.
Over the years, the United States has developed an extensive multimodal system that includes road, air, rail, and water transport capable of moving large volumes of people and goods long distances. Automobiles and light trucks still dominate the passenger transportation system, and the highway share of passenger miles traveled in 2006, the most recent year of available data, was about 89 percent of the total, down by around 1 percent from the 2006 CAR. Air travel accounted for slightly over 10 percent (up 1 percent from the 2006 CAR), and mass transit and rail travel combined accounted for only about 1 percent of passenger miles traveled. For-hire transport services, as a portion of GDP, have barely changed since the 2006 CAR, accounting for 2.9 percent of GDP in 2007 (U.S. DOT/BTS 2010).
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WASTE
In 2007, the United States generated approximately 230 million metric tons (254 million tons) of municipal solid waste (MSW), about 45 million metric tons (nearly 50 million tons) more than in 1990. Paper and paperboard products made up the largest component of MSW generated by weight (33 percent), and yard trimmings comprised the second-largest material component (more than 13 percent). Glass, metals, plastics, wood, and food each constituted between 5 and 13 percent of the total MSW generated, while rubber, leather, and textiles combined made up about 8 percent of the MSW.
Recycling has been the most significant change in waste management from a GHG perspective. From 1990 to 2007, the recycling rate increased from just over 16 percent to about 33 percent. Of the remaining MSW generated, about 13 percent was combusted and 54 percent was disposed of in landfills. The number of operating MSW landfills in the United States has decreased substantially over the past 20 years, from about 8,000 in 1988 to about 1,750 in 2007, while the average landfill size has increased (U.S. EPA/OSW 2008).
Landfills are the second-largest U.S. source of anthropogenic methane emissions, accounting for 23 percent of the total. Present data suggest a marked increase in the amount of methane recovered for either gas-toenergy or flaring purposes in recent years (U.S. EPA/ OAP 2009).
Download executive summary (PDF): U.S. Climate Action Report 2010
Download full report (PDF): U.S. Climate Action Report 2010
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Advance freedom for the benefit of the American people and the international community by helping to build and sustain a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world composed of well-governed states that respond to the needs of their people, reduce widespread poverty, and act responsibly within the international system.”
Tags: 2010 CAR, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA, Barack Obama, Department of State, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Greenhouse, Obama Administration, State Department
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