As reported in Inside Climate News, Rhodium Group preliminary estimates for 2019 show that US emissions dropped. This is welcome news for our health.
It is due to a decrease in coal power production, compensated by an increase in natural gas and renewables. Therefore, it is mixed for the efforts on climate change, because much of the drop from shutting coal power plants was replaced by natural gas power plants, which is still contributes to climate change. Both natural gas and renewables showed an increase, but renewables were at a level significantly below natural gas. We need more renewables and less fossil fuels in order to fight climate change.
Also, because there was an increase in 2018, our emissions for 2019, though lower, are still above where they need to be to keep us on target to follow the Paris accord.
What you can do about this: call your US representative and senators to support the multiple bills addressing climate change. Ask your state public utility regulators to insist that utilities add more renewables to their energy mix. Ask state and local governments to install solar on every building they own. Ask your school system to apply for DERA funding to get cleaner school buses. Ask everyone to conserve energy: insulate, LED lights, and more. If you are buying a new car, think electric or plug-in hybrid. There is lots that can be done right away. Prices for solar and battery storage is dropping so fast that solar installations are economically viable for everyone!
