US CO2 Emissions Per Capita Are At Their Lowest Levels In 50 Years

The International Panel on Climate Change released their third and final report this weekend, warning that population growth and industrialization in the developing world could drive global warming past the point of no return.

Even if it doesn't fall into that particular category, the U.S. could always be doing more toward mitigating its own emissions.

But for what it's worth, it was not among the countries singled out by Oswaldo Lucon, a Brazilian scientist involved in the report, as having been responsible for watering down the panel's latest findings. (He fingered the Chinese, Indian, Saudi Arabian and even his own Brazilian delegation for doing so).

And the following chart from AEI's Mark Perry shows the U.S. has been making significant gains in carbon dioxide reduction: At about 17 tons per capita, we are at a level not seen in half a century. Perry writes:

CO2 emissions per capita in the US increased slightly last year, but were back to the same level as in 1963 (50 years ago), and 23% below the peak in the early 1970s, thanks to the boom in shale gas, which has displaced coal for electricity generation.

Check it out:

Mark Perry/AEI