COTW: US Greehouse Gases

Joe Biden got his much delayed and highly reduced bill to begin addressing the US contribution to the global warming crisis.  It is significant to note that the deceptively named "Inflation Reduction Act" come forty years after Al Gore held the first congressional hearing on climate change.  Unfortunately the bill continues to incentivize the fossil fuel industry, which is not surprising considering Joe Manchin was finally convinced to support the legislation. Still, a weaker climate bill is better than no bill at all.  This week's chart shows the enormity of the problem facing the Untied States and other developed countries:

Electricity generation continues to be a large portion of US carbon emissions. The country spewed out almost 6 billion metric tons of carbon equivalent emissions in 2020, a rise of 6.1%.  The Biden Administration has set a goal of 100% clean power generation by 2035. But the bulk of power generation (60%) is still produced by fossil fuel combustion. Strides are being made, however. Coal, the most polluting fuel, has its emission share drop by 21%.If this trend continue, electricity generation can make a huge difference in decarbonization in time to save the planet.