US CO2 emissions rose 3.4% in 2018, the largest increase in eight years, despite near-record coal plant closures and the addition of 7.9GW of wind and solar capacity through October, according to a preliminary estimate by research company Rhodium Group.
This compares with declines of 0.8% in 2017, 1.7% the prior year and 2.7% in 2015.
“That slowdown in progress, combined with a lack of new climate policy action at the federal level, risked putting the US emissions reduction goal under the Paris Agreement — a 26-28% cut below 2005 levels by 2025 – out of reach,” Rhodium said in a note
