EPA Publishes National U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory

The U.S. EPA has released the national greenhouse gas inventory, which finds that overall emissions during 2005 increased by less than one percent from the previous year. The report, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse GasEmissions and Sinks: 1990-2005, was published after gathering commentsfrom a broad range of stakeholders across the country. President Bush has a goal to reduce America's greenhouse gas intensity 18 percent by 2012.

Total emissions of the six main greenhouse gases in 2005 were equivalentto 7,260 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. These gases include 1) carbon dioxide, 2) methane, 3) nitrous oxide, 4) hydrofluorocarbons, 5) perfluorocarbons, and 6) sulfur hexafluoride. The report indicates that overall emissions have grown by 16 percent from 1990 to 2005. This report is the latest in an annual set of reports that the United States submits to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. The inventory also calculates carbon dioxide emissions that are removed from the atmosphere by "sinks," e.g., through the uptake of carbon by forests, vegetation, and soils.

Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005 Report