Thanks, @realDonaldTrump! The United States led the world in 2019 in reducing energy-related CO2 emissions on a per-country basis

Greg P. | 12:25 PM on February 12, 2020

Thank you, President Trump, for your leadership and making sure the United States is leading the world in reducing carbon emissions!

International Energy Agency: "The United States saw the largest decline in energy-related CO2 emissions in 2019 on a country basis…US emissions are now down almost 1 Gt from their peak in the year 2000, the largest absolute decline by any country" https://t.co/LpfXYfGCf2

— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) February 12, 2020

And, as you see from the last line here, global warming and “milder summer and winter weather” helped usher in the decrease:

The United States saw the largest decline in energy-related CO₂ emissions in 2019 on a country basis – a fall of 140 Mt, or 2.9%, to 4.8 Gt. US emissions are now down almost 1 Gt from their peak in the year 2000, the largest absolute decline by any country over that period. A 15% reduction in the use of coal for power generation underpinned the decline in overall US emissions in 2019. Coal-fired power plants faced even stronger competition from natural gas-fired generation, with benchmark gas prices an average of 45% lower than 2018 levels. As a result, gas increased its share in electricity generation to a record high of 37%. Overall electricity demand declined because demand for air-conditioning and heating was lower as a result of milder summer and winter weather.