Decrease in US emissions

US emissions of greenhouse gases were down 1.5% in 2006, compared to 2005, according to an EPA report released today. They attribute the decline to "due primarily to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions associated with fuel and electricity consumption." That doesn't tell you much.... we do know that American's are, in the last few months, using less gasoline than they were a year ago, in absolute terms. The economy is dropping, and winters are getting warmer, so you'd expect a decrease in those terms. On the other hand, summers are getting warming so you'd expect an increase from air-conditioning.

Overall, emissions have grown by 14.1 percent from 1990 to 2006 while the U.S. economy has grown by 59 percent over the same period.

I still wonder how they can specify US emissions data to the nearest MMT (out of a total of 7202 MMT) -- if their models are really that accurate. As John Fleck demonstrated for Albuquerque, these numbers are not always accurate and the modelers seem to make whatever targets their boss has provided them.