> US emissions has declined in real terms since 2000, and has plummeted rapidly on a per capita basis.
And yet we still have some of the highest per capita emissions in the world. Nearly tied with Russia for "highest per capita emissions of major economies", see [1].
Since the IPCC was formed in 1988 and ACC widely recognized as a problem, US per capita GHG co2-equivalent emissions have dropped from 25.2 t/capita/year to 17.5, for a cumulative decrease of 30% [2]. This is a rate of -0.95%/year, which is not what I would call "rapid".
And dropping to only 70% of a really high mark still leaves us at a really high mark. But really, I just don't understand your argument.
Are you saying that a 30% drop over 40 years is a lot, when we should have been aiming for dropping by 70-100% in that time frame?
Are you saying that our emissions dropped significantly, even though we all know there was major political obstruction to plans to cut fossil fuel use?
Are you saying that what we've done is enough, even though the US is still one of the highest emitters per capita and the Earth is on track to greatly overshoot the +1.5C goal? Current best estimate is +2.7C by 2100.
I can't make the general direction of your argument make sense. Seems like you're overplaying what we've done and downplaying how far there is left to go.
And yet we still have some of the highest per capita emissions in the world. Nearly tied with Russia for "highest per capita emissions of major economies", see [1].
Since the IPCC was formed in 1988 and ACC widely recognized as a problem, US per capita GHG co2-equivalent emissions have dropped from 25.2 t/capita/year to 17.5, for a cumulative decrease of 30% [2]. This is a rate of -0.95%/year, which is not what I would call "rapid".
And dropping to only 70% of a really high mark still leaves us at a really high mark. But really, I just don't understand your argument.
Are you saying that a 30% drop over 40 years is a lot, when we should have been aiming for dropping by 70-100% in that time frame?
Are you saying that our emissions dropped significantly, even though we all know there was major political obstruction to plans to cut fossil fuel use?
Are you saying that what we've done is enough, even though the US is still one of the highest emitters per capita and the Earth is on track to greatly overshoot the +1.5C goal? Current best estimate is +2.7C by 2100.
I can't make the general direction of your argument make sense. Seems like you're overplaying what we've done and downplaying how far there is left to go.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_greenhous...
[2] https://ourworldindata.org/profile/co2/united-states