The International Energy Agency (IEA) released a report last month showing that global carbon pollution rose in 2017, after three years of being flat. Asian countries, like India and China, were responsible for two-thirds of the global emissions increase, while even the European Union as a unit logged a 1.5 percent rise in greenhouse gas emissions.There were a few outlier countries, however, that saw their emissions decline.
One of them was particularly noteworthy because it was the United States. Indeed, carbon emissions in the US fell by 0.5 percent in 2017, when the Trump administration threatened to pull out of the Paris Agreement, moved to repeal the Clean Power Plan, and “ended” the “war” on coal companies. The reason? “While coal-to-gas switching played a major role in reducing emissions in previous years, last year the drop was the result of higher renewables-based electricity generation and a decline in electricity demand,” the IEA said. The share of renewables in the electricity mix last year reached a record 17 percent while nuclear power remained at 20 percent.
Some members of the denier community are pointing to other factors. According to Breitbart, the credit belongs to Trump. “Germany’s Die Welt Proclaims Donald Trump ‘Most Successful Climate Protector in the World’” screams its headlines, accompanied by a photo of Trump giving a tiny thumbs up. This article has been posted on several pro-Trump websites and on Youtube, although it isn’t clear why Trump supporters would cheer the reduction of carbon emissions since they’ve been teaching the world that excess carbon dioxide is nothing but plant food.
The Heartland Institute used the IEA report as an opportunity to berate nations for committing to emission reduction targets under the Paris Agreement. They were quick to point out the US success nonetheless, but smartly ignored IEA’s analysis that the emissions have been lowered because of renewables. Choosing instead to quote Myron Ebell who said the decline has “nothing to do with the Kyoto or the Paris climate agreements. Rather, it is largely a result of coal being displaced by natural gas, which emits less carbon dioxide when producing electricity.”
Ebell continued, “The United States has reduced emissions significantly, but not in an effort to fight climate change or to transform our economy the way countries like Germany and Britain are unsuccessfully trying to do,” This conveniently ignores the fact that UK’s emissions in 2017 dropped by 3.8 percent, their lowest level on record dating back to 1960.
It’s true that countries need to do more to meet their near-term goals to curb carbon pollution. But the upward trajectory of renewables and the trend of decarbonization is undeniable, no matter how creative deniers get.